Return of the Lords of Nature (Toby)
by finalfanaticgorm
Summary: Follows the canon storyline of the animated series as well as my previous fanfiction and personal headcanons. Will be eventual BlizzardStormshipping (Toby/Jessica) with possible mentions of ObliviouslyInfatuatedshipping (Lucas/Gina) and Nick/OC. Contains adventure, fluff, humour, drama, romance and, above all, friendship. Rating could be subject to change. Will be AU in places.
1. Prologue

_AN: Hey, guys, this is a (hopefully improved) reboot of my fanfictions. It will include canon events as well as my own headcanons so enjoy! There will be a book for each Lord of Nature :-)_ _There will be eventual Toby/Jessica (BlizzardStormshipping) with mentions of Lucas/Gina (ObliviouslyInfatuatedshipping) and Nick/OC._

 _I do not own Gormiti or its characters. I only own my headcanons and my ideas for events that occurred outside of the canon series._

 _Karen and Mick are Toby and Nick's parents. They don't have names in the actual series so I figured I'd name them myself._

~••~

* * *

 _March 26_ , _1996_

Karen Tripp smiled softly at the baby boy in her arms. With his blond hair and blue eyes, he closely resembled his father - her husband Mick.

Said man looked as though he was struggling not to cry as he took in the fact that he now had a son. He kept removing his glasses to dab at his eyes with a handkerchief before turning to his wife.

"I'm so proud of you, Karen. Now I guess we need to name the little guy, huh?" He laughed sheepishly. Though they had known their baby would be a boy, they hadn't been able to decide on a name for him.

"Yes," she agreed. "It may be easier now that we know what he looks like."

The next half-hour passed by with each parent suggesting names - Karen suggesting Robert, Ken, Barney or Derek and Mick suggesting Brandon, Steven, Oliver or Curtis.

None of the names seemed to fit their baby boy, though.

In desperation, Karen rifled inside her bag and pulled out a book she had purchased four months into her pregnancy - _1001 Baby Names_.

She started flicking through the pages before instructing Mick to close his eyes and point once at a random time. Whatever page his finger landed on, they would choose a name from it.

Mick's finger landed on a page and he opened his eyes, both of them looking over the names.

One name caught their attention. They looked at one another and smiled.

 _Toby._

* * *

 _January_ _7, 199_ 7

The baby in Karen's arms resembled neither of his parents, hair and eye color-wise. He did, however, have his father's facial features.

He seemed more passive than his older brother, having barely made a sound in the past two hours.

Mick came in, carrying a now one-year-old Toby. He set the toddler down, watching as he stumbled clumsily toward Karen, his eyes alight with curiosity.

"Who that?" He asked, pointing to the baby and looking confused.

Karen lifted her eldest son onto her lap, running her hands through his hair. "Toby, this is your baby brother. His name is Nick."

"Brother Nick?" Toby responded, gazing at Nick. He reached out his finger and poked gently at his brother who suddenly grabbed the digit, holding it with the strength all newborn babies possess. This caused Toby to whimper and pull his finger back.

"Yes," Karen smiled, holding both of her sons closely. "You're a big brother now."

Toby yawned sleepily. He was apparently due for his afternoon nap. "I'm gonna be the _best_ brother..." His eyes closed as he fell asleep.

He hadn't been the only one. Nick had copied his brother's actions and was also sleeping soundly in Karen's arms.

The woman glanced at Mick, both of them filled with an overwhelming love for their sons. "Sleep tight, my darlings. Mommy and Daddy love you so much." She kissed both of their foreheads softly before smiling at her husband.

Neither of them noticed that they were being watched by someone who wasn't human.

A small green lizard-like creature perched on the window ledge, peering curiously at the humans in the room. It resembled none of the lizards currently in existence on Earth.

As the tall male human shifted, the lizard caught sight of two small humans, both male - one blond and one brunette. His instincts told him these particular humans were important to him but he couldn't figure out why.

His tail waved about as he tried to recall why he was here. He had been tasked from birth with finding the Lords of Nature, four beings capable of wielding the Eyes of Life. So why had his instincts led him to this tiny American town?

Gaze falling on the tiny humans in the room once more, it hit him...

" _I've found them_!" In his excitement, he almost lost his balance. He then remembered a sobering fact. There were four Eyes of Life and he had only found two of the potential wielders.

Deciding he had seen enough, he scurried down the wall, being careful to stay out of sight in case he was spotted.

"I will be back soon!" He promised as he scampered away from the hospital. "I will help you claim your destinies as the Lords of Nature or my name's not Razzle!"

* * *

 _AN: Well, what did you guys think. If you guys have any questions, leave a review here or an ask on Tumblr :-)_


	2. Chapter 1 - First Meetings

_AN: Hey, guys! Welcome to the first chapter! I hope you enjoy it! Note that from this chapter onwards, the chapters will be written in Toby's POV._

 _I don't own Gormiti or its characters._

* * *

 _September 7, 200_ 1

I was standing outside the gates of Venture Falls Junior School with my mom and my little brother Nick. We were both wearing backpacks - mine was blue and Nick's was yellow.

Nick wasn't even supposed to be starting school until next year. However, Mom had explained to us that the classes for next year and the year after were apparently too big so they had to make some of the kids start this year instead. This meant that I would soon be sharing a class with my little brother - so it made it easier for me to keep an eye on him and to tease him...sometimes. After all, what were older brothers for?

Mom seemed to be trying not to cry as she practically crushed us in a hug. "Oh, I'm so proud of my boys! You're both growing so fast!"

"Mom!," I whine, attempting to free myself as she starts attempting to smooth my hair and clothes - blue t-shirt, jeans, and trainers - before ruffling our hair and planting a kiss on each of our foreheads.

Just as she turns to leave, however, Nick and I are knocked to the ground by a stern-looking blonde woman talking on the phone. She marches on without looking back or stopping to apologize. I hear Mom rushing towards us and Nick's quiet sniffles beside me as he tries not to cry - Nick always has been a bit of a crybaby and I was proud of him for trying to grow out of it.

"I'm sorry." A girl's voice sounds from behind us. I turn my head and take the hand that was offered and allow the mysterious girl to pull me to my feet. She turns away from me and helps Nick up too.

After we both thank her for helping us, I study her features from behind. She had fair skin and blonde hair that was several shades paler than mine. She wore it in a single braid that hung down her back with a lilac ribbon on the end. Her outfit consisted of a lilac t-shirt, matching boots and blue dungarees.

"Wait!" I ask, confused. "Why are _you_ saying sorry? It was that mean woman who knocked us over, not you!"

She turns around to face me and I can't tell if she's angry or sad as she says quietly, "That ' _mean woman_ ' is my mom." I try to apologize but she waves me off.

Mom smiles at her and asks what her name is. The girl opens her mouth to reply but, before she gets the chance, we hear brisk footsteps and I see the woman marching towards us, looking seriously angry. She grabs the girl's arm and starts practically dragging her away from us, all the while glaring at us as though we were dirt she had accidentally stepped in.

"That poor dear!" Mom exclaims as we hear the woman apparently scolding the girl. I see them in the glass and watch as the girl lowers her head, nods and runs inside the school. At some point, I had caught a glimpse of her face - her eyes were filled with unshed tears or at least they were really bright - and I had never seen a sadder person in my five years of living.

For some reason, I want to see her smile. I want to be her friend so I can make her happy. Why? Because, to me, it looks like she's never been happy in her life and she seems like someone who could do with a friend.

The bell starts to ring as Mom hugs us once again. I lead Nick inside the school, both of us waving goodbye to her as she walks away.

We head into the cloakroom and hang up our backpacks next to each other. I see the girl from earlier and open my mouth to say hi when a woman comes in.

"Are you the last ones?" She asks kindly and I immediately find myself liking her. Her brown hair is tied in a ponytail and her brown eyes are warm and kind. She almost reminds me of Mom.

"Uh, I think so?" I reply as I look around. Aside from the girl - whose name I still don't know - Nick and I are the only ones there. "I'm Toby and this is my little brother, Nick."

The woman takes out a sheet of paper from her clipboard and runs her finger down it. "A-ha!" She exclaims. "Toby Tripp?" She asks me and I nod. She then tries to find Nick's name on the same sheet, shaking her head when she apparently reaches the bottom of the list. I watch as she pulls out a second piece of paper and skims through the names. "And here's Nick!"

She looks up at us smiling. "Well, Toby, you're in my class and Nick, you're with Mr. Russberg next door."

I look at my little brother who had started fiddling with his brand-new glasses whilst staring at the floor.

The teacher seemed to misunderstand the situation as she says comfortingly, "There's nothing to be afraid of, Nick. Mr. Russberg is really nice!"

I shake my head. "It's not that, Miss," I pipe up. "We thought we'd be in the same class." She smiles at us as a man - probably Mr. Russberg - comes out of the room she had pointed out to us before.

"Aah, so which one of you is Nick?" He asks and I gently push my brother forwards. "There's no need to be nervous, my boy! I intend to make this year the best for my new students!"

The woman walks up to him and begins a hushed conversation. At some points, she pointed over to us. Mr. Russberg ran a hand through his unruly black hair. "Hmm, that _is_ a problem," he says at last. "Tell you what, give us a week or two to see what we can do about getting you two in the same class, okay?"

I look at Nick and we both nod. If it's the best they can do, then I don't see any point in arguing. "Excellent!" He clapped his hands together. "Follow me, Nick." He addresses my brother.

Nick looks at me and I say, "It'll be okay little bro! I'll see you at lunch, alright?" He grins and finally follows Mr. Russberg inside the classroom.

I was left standing there awkwardly as I hadn't yet been told where to go. My new teacher walked past me to talk to the girl and ask for her name. The girl mumbled something I couldn't hear - probably her name - and the teacher scanned through both lists before cheerfully declaring that she was in her - and my - class.

She walks toward the other classroom and instructs us to follow her. I walk beside the girl, unable to tell if she's still upset from before or nervous about her first day. Maybe it's both.

"Are you okay?" I ask her and she nods slowly. We walk into the classroom and sit down at the only empty desk left right at the back of the room. The teacher stands at the front smiling at us all.

"Good morning, kids! It's nice to see you all here today!" She greets us. "My name is Miss McAllister and I am _thrilled_ to be your teacher this year!" She pulls out a sheet of paper - the same one she had before - and begins calling out our names one by one.

The kids respond with either "Here, Miss!" or "Yes, Miss!" as their names are ticked off on the register.

"Jessica?" Miss McAllister calls out and the girl next to me quietly responds. So that was her name. It was nice to finally know what it was.

The rolecall continued on until my own name was called - I was apparently the second to last person on the register - before Miss McAllister told a girl with auburn pigtails named Dolly to take the register to Reception.

When Dolly came back, Miss McAllister started handing us a blank sheet of paper each. "Now, since it's the first day, I thought we'd start by drawing something fun we did over the summer, okay?"

I reached for a pack of crayons and a pencil. Holding the pencil in one hand, I emptied the crayons onto the desk and began to draw.

For the next hour, all that could be heard was the scratching of pencils and the occasional scrunch of paper. I stared proudly at my work, before deciding to go over it a bit more with a black felt-tip pen.

Miss McAllister eventually clapped her hands and told us to stop drawing. She told us to come up to the front of the class when she called our names and tell everyone what we'd drawn.

One by one, people described what they had done. One dark-haired girl had drawn herself on a sail-boat with an old man she proudly declared was her granddad. A blond boy had drawn himself helping his mother with his little sister who had been drawn wailing and screaming, clearly in the middle of a tantrum.

When it was Jessica's turn, she quietly explained that her favorite thing about the summer was looking for shapes in the clouds. She held up a drawing of herself gazing up at differently-shaped clouds - there was a bird, soccer ball, gnome and a flower. She then rushed back to her seat before Miss McAllister could ask her any questions, looking terribly embarrassed.

At last, it was my turn. I eagerly went up to the front of the class and held up my drawing. "This is when we went to Santalina Island this summer. We go there every year on holiday." As I described each part of my drawing, I pointed to what I was

talking about : "That's me swimming," - pointing to myself paddling in the sea, "That's my mom relaxing," - pointing to my mom on a deckchair underneath a beach umbrella with a big, floppy white hat, sunglasses and a magazine, "That's my little brother looking for shells and stuff," - pointing to Nick holding up a shell with a bucket full of shells beside him, "and that's my dad buried in sand!" - pointing to my dad who was buried up to his neck in sand. A sandcastle Nick and I had made stood not too far away.

"That was wonderful, children!" Miss McAllister said happily. "I'm glad you all had such wonderful holidays!"

* * *

 _At lunch_

As I promised Nick, I went to wait for him at lunch. When he came out, I saw him talking with a familiar boy.

"Hey, little bro! I guess it wasn't all that bad then!" I call out and Nick turns around, his face brightening when he sees me.

"Toby!" he exclaims. "Lucas, come on!" he says to the boy who runs alongside him towards me.

I grin at them both. "So how have you been, Lucas?"

The mixed-race boy looks up. He has curly dark brown hair and green eyes. He was wearing a green shirt with khaki shorts and brown sandshoes.

"Good, thanks!" He responds.

"I bet you guys are glad to be in the same class, right?" I ask, happy that Nick has a friend. We knew Lucas through our parents and he and Nick had been in the same class at nursery so he was a good friend. He had often stayed over at our house when his parents had to be somewhere and they didn't have a babysitter available.

They both nodded as we collected our backpacks and headed outside. The sun was shining and there were only a couple of clouds in the sky.

As I sat down and pulled my lunch out of my backpack to eat, I began looking around. While we ate, we told each other what we had done in class - both Nick and Lucas had told me that their teacher was really funny.

I was about to open a bag of cookies when I finally spotted Jessica. She was sitting by herself in front of a tree, holding daisies in her hands, and still looked sad. I noticed the blond boy from my class walking up to her.

"All by yourself, weirdo?" he asks loudly. I watch her look up and ask him to leave but he just laughs and rips her half-finished daisy chain out of her hands, tearing it into pieces.

When I see her eyes well up with tears, I stand up and walk over to them. I tap the boy on the shoulder and he turns around. "What do you want?" he sneers rudely.

"Stop picking on her!" I yell, seeing Jessica look up in surprise. "What did she ever do to you?"

The boy smirks at me. "Oh, and what are _you_ going to do about it - fight me?" He laughs. "Yeah, right!"

"Maybe I will!" I snap as I move closer, both of us glaring at each other.

Just as the boy went to shove me, I felt a hand pull me back. "Ike Pinkney and Toby Tripp, what do you think you're doing?"

Miss McAllister stood between us, holding us apart and looking angry. "What were you doing?"

Ike immediately started trying to blame everything on me, claiming that it was all my fault.

"That's not true!" I yell when, to my surprise, Jessica speaks up.

"Ike was the one who started it, Miss," she says, speaking slightly louder. "Toby was just trying to stand up for me."

Miss McAllister lets us both off with a warning and walks away. Ike runs off after glaring at us and Jessica looks at me, confused.

"Why did you stand up for me? No one else did." She asked and I smile.

"That's what friends are for, right?" I exclaim, looking at her.

"Friends?" she echoes, before frowning. "I've never had a friend before."

"Seriously?" I ask and she lowers her head sadly. "Well, in that case, I'll just have to be your best friend!"

She looks at me and, for the first time, smiles. "I'd like that." She says happily.

I take her hand and lead her to where Nick and Lucas are still sitting. "Is your mom always that mean?" I ask and Jessica sighs.

"Only when she forgets her medicine. Most of the time, she's alright but if she doesn't take it, she gets all mean and nasty like today." She explains. "She can't help it." She adds as we sit down.

After I introduce Jessica to the others, I open the bag of cookies and offer some to the others who accept and begin munching on them happily.

When the bell rings, we all stand up and exchange smiles, new friendships having formed. As I headed back into the classroom with Jessica, I thought I saw a small lizard scampering into the bushes but when I looked again, it had gone.

For some reason, as I sat down, the lizard seemed really familiar to me. I couldn't put my finger on it. Had I dreamt about it?

 _Where had I seen it before?_

* * *

 _AN: Well, that took a long time to write! Remember: any questions - leave a review here or an ask on Tumblr (gormitifangirl . tumblr . com (remove the spaces)) Thank you so much for reading and see you next time!_


	3. Chapter 2 - Discovery

_AN: Okay, I'd like to start off by saying thank you to everyone who read the last 2 chapters. You guys are awesome! Next, I've decided to forgo writing the dates from this chapter onward - it'll get too confusing, especially since most of the episodes don't seem to have a chronological order._

 _Also if anyone_ _read my post on Tumblr, I've decided to change the birth dates in accordance with what I discovered - I apologize if this confuses you guys!_

 _With that said, I don't own Gormiti or the characters so...on with the fic!_

~••~

* * *

Seven years had passed since my first day at school. Mr. Russberg and Miss McAllister had kept their promise to try and get Nick and I in the same class - we had been in the same class every year since I was six, along with our friends Jessica and Lucas.

This year our teacher was Miss McGurk, a woman whose droning voice could make even the most interesting lessons sound boring. She constantly wore a scowl and I often wondered what she enjoyed about teaching if anything.

Our last lesson today was Geography. Miss McGurk had spent the last hour droning about geezers - no, sorry, _geysers_ \- and was currently setting us homework, pages of it.

"Class, I want y'all to complete the questions on pages 57 through to 61 to be collected in Friday's lesson. I want no excuses for incompleted work. Failure to hand in your work will result in detention. Is that clear?"

I lift my head off my desk and, along with my classmates, say, "Yes, Miss." As the bell rang, we were dismissed and everyone began packing their things away.

As we began walking out of the classroom, Nick turns to me with a serious expression. I inwardly groan, knowing exactly what he's going to say. "Toby, you'd better not leave this until the last minute again or Miss McGurk will call Mom and Dad and-"

I hold up my hand to stop him. "Okay, okay, lighten up, little bro! I promise I won't leave it until last minute."

"That's what you always say!" Jessica says, giving me a smile while adjusting the straps of her backpack.

"Yeah, don't you remember that group project we failed because you forgot to do your part?" Lucas chimes in, folding his arms.

I rolled my eyes. That hadn't been how it had happened at all. "You guys are still mad about that? I keep telling you it was an accident!"

Last year, our teacher had set us a group project. I had been given the smallest and last section to do. When I tried to save my completed work, however, our old and completely worn-out computer deleted the entire project. I told the others about it straightaway however they seemed to think I'd done it on purpose. We tried to redo as much of it as we could within a week but we were unable to finish it in time, earning ourselves a detention. The others had been so mad they refused to speak to me for an entire week - it had hurt, especially since it wasn't even my fault.

We head outside as something else crept into my mind, something that had been bothering me all day. "Hey, guys? I had this _weird_ dream last night." They stop and look at me, so I carry on. "We were all talking to this green lizard guy and he told us we had to help protect this secret world from evil volcano mon- What?" I say, rather defensively, seeing the surprised expressions on their faces. "I'm not making this up!"

"No, it's not that, bro," Nick says quickly. "It's just you literally described the dream _I_ had last night!" Jessica and Lucas both nodded, indicating that they had dreamt the same thing we had.

"So we all dreamt the same thing?" Jessica asks, looking at all of us with a puzzled expression.

"It could just be a coincidence," Lucas suggests, though his tone told me he wasn't sure he even believed that.

 _"I'm going to have to disagree with you there, kid."_

I blink. "You guys heard that, right? That voice? It sounded really familiar!"

"Yeah, I recognize it too." Nick agrees. Just then, Jessica let out a shriek and we all turned to look at her.

Perched on the top of her head was the strangest looking lizard I had ever seen. It had green scaly skin, blue eyes and a weird crest on its head as well as a long tail. What weirded me out was what happened next. The lizard opened its mouth and, to my surprise - well, actually I wasn't all that surprised -, it began to speak.

"Yeesh, I come to finally tell you guys about your destiny and instead I almost get deafened."

I glance around, relieved that none of our fellow students seem to be around. The lizard climbs down from Jessica's head and scurries over to me, scampering up my arm and stopping when it reached my shoulder.

Lucas stares at the lizard. "Y-You can talk!" He stutters.

"Of course I can talk!" The lizard huffs impatiently. "How would I be able to explain everything to you if all I could do was make ridiculous noises?"

"Explain _what_ to us?" Nick asks curiously before I let out a noise of recognition.

"I remember seeing you before!" I exclaim. "Back when I was five!"

"You sure you weren't dreaming, Toby?" Jessica asks me teasingly, having recovered from her earlier shock.

"I was awake, Jess," I reply as the lizard stretches its limbs.

"Well, I'm glad at least one of you remembers me - and by the way, my name is Razzle." The lizard introduces it's - or rather - himself.

"Nice to meet you!" We all say though I feel weird for having a conversation with a lizard and wonder if the others feel the same way.

"You've all changed since the last time I saw you. The clothes and all."

I grin at him. "It's been seven years, hasn't it? Things change." I was now wearing a long-sleeved blue shirt with an orange and white collar, blue jeans and blue sneakers with an orange and white trim.

"Indeed." Razzle nods. "Now if we can head for your house, we can discuss everything there." Nick unzips his backpack and the lizard jumps inside.

"You'd better stay out of sight, Razzle." He warns. "Our parents might freak if they see a lizard in the house, especially a _talking_ lizard."

We head towards our (mine and Nick's) house, Jessica and Lucas having texted their parents to let them know they were coming over.

As we open the door, we are greeted by Mom and Dad who were donning baking hats and aprons. "Oh, hi, kids!" Mom greets us. "We're just finishing up here and then we're off to work." Oh yeah, I forgot to mention - my mom and dad own a travel agency named _Tripp's Trips_ and they are mad about baking. Crazy mad.

"Check out this beauty!" Dad says proudly as we gather around the table. I look at the blackberry crumble sitting on a plate, still warm, the scent wafting into my nostrils. I _really_ loved blackberry crumble.

"You're all welcome to a slice!" Mom tells us as she folds her apron and puts it away before doing the same with Dad's. We all thank her.

"As long as Toby's not the one doing the slicing!" Nick says, smirking at me.

"Yeah, there wouldn't be anything left for us!" Lucas adds.

"We all know you get crazy about blackberry crumble!" Jessica finishes, as all three of them smirk at me.

"What is it today?" I complain jokingly. " _Pick on Toby day!_ If so, why didn't anyone tell me?"

There was a pause before all four of us dissolve into laughter. Mom and Dad wait for us to recover before telling us (or rather me) to behave.

As soon as they had left, Nick unzips his backpack, allowing Razzle to climb out. Jessica, meanwhile, took a knife and began to slice the blackberry crumble into equal slices before placing four of them on plates that Lucas and I helpfully placed on the table. She placed a cover over the remainder before the four of us sat down to eat.

Eager for the taste of my favorite pudding, I quickly started wolfing down my slice and allowed the tartness of the blackberry to hit my taste buds. "Wow, this tastes just as good as I remember!" I exclaim once my mouth is no longer full - hey, I do know you're not supposed to talk with your mouth full, you know!

Jessica frowns. "Don't eat too fast or you'll make yourself sick!" She warned me, before continuing to eat her own slice.

I sighed. "Yes, Mother." I teased, causing her to lightly punch my arm. I did slow down slightly, though, just to savor the taste a little more.

Lucas turned to Nick. "Man, your parents always bake the best desserts. You guys are so lucky!"

"Well, I can't argue with you there!" Nick agreed as I finished my slice and waited for the others to finish too.

Once we'd all finished, Nick washed our plates and cutlery before putting them away. We then turned to Razzle who had jumped onto the table.

"So why have you been looking for us then?" I ask curiously.

Razzle clears his throat. "Because you, my friends, are...the _Lords of Nature_!"

My eyes lit up. I was so excited. This was all I had ever dreamed of, literally. It seemed that the others didn't share my enthusiasm, however.

"The Lords of Nature? Us?" Nick asks incredulously.

"We're just four ordinary kids!" Lucas protests.

I couldn't believe they were actually doubting this. "Guys, come on, how many times are we gonna be told that we're superheroes - we _are_ superheroes, right?" This last part I asked Razzle who nodded and I grinned.

Jessica folded her arms. "Come on, Toby. Even you have to admit it sounds pretty far-fetched."

"This is _exactly_ what we dreamt about! How can you guys be doubting that?" I protested.

"Perhaps if I showed them, they would be convinced..." Razzle mused before climbing back onto my shoulder and pointing a claw to the pantry doors.

Figuring that Razzle wanted us to go to the pantry for some reason, I started walking towards the doors, the others following reluctantly.

Once we were all inside, I spotted something on the wall that hadn't been there before. "Hey, Nick, I don't remember that grate being there, do you?"

He shook his head. For some reason, I felt like I had to wave my hand across it so I did. As soon as I did, the grate slid back, revealing a blank panel.

I blinked. "Was that supposed to happen?" I asked Razzle who nodded excitedly.

For some reason, something was telling me to wave my hand over the panel. My hand, as though moving on its own, waved over the top left corner of the panel.

At first, nothing happened. Then, to my surprise, the area I waved my hand over glowed dark-blue with a strange symbol that looked like a wave. "Awesome!" I whisper before stepping back upon hearing someone step up behind me.

I watched as Nick, Lucas and Jessica - who seemed to be guided by the same instinct I was - waved their hands across the panel, causing the three remaining blank sections to turn orange with a mountain symbol (Nick), green with a tree symbol (Lucas) and finally light-blue with a wind symbol (Jessica).

The entire panel glowed a luminous-green before we heard a rumbling sound. I heard the others cry out in alarm and I stepped back, watching the floor I had just been standing on start to sink downwards. When it was over, I stepped forward and peered curiously down the hole.

"There are stairs going down somewhere!" I tell the others who immediately come to join me.

"I can't believe it!" Nick said, blinking rapidly as he removed his glasses to clean them before putting them back on.

"Where do you think it goes?" Lucas asked, kneeling down to peer down the hole, trying to see the end of the staircase.

"Only one way to find out, I guess," Jessica said as we all looked at each other before I led the way down the stairs.

When we reached the bottom, we let out awed gasps. It was a cavern of some sort with bookshelves filled with books - I knew Nick would want to study as many of them as he could -, a screen with what looked to be a keyboard with crystals instead of keys , a chair with a blank circle in the back and what appeared to be a huge hole in the ground with four sets of crystals surrounding it.

Razzle pointed toward the hole and we walk towards it. Instinctively I stand in front of the dark-blue crystals and look at the hole. It doesn't seem like an ordinary hole as I see clouds over it.

"A portal?" Nick asked Razzle. As he speaks, the clouds shift and we see something begin to appear. It looks like an island - but it looks like no place I've ever seen before.

"This is the Isle of Gorm." Razzle began. "It exists in a parallel dimension to Earth." My head was spinning. Parallel dimension? I'll have to ask Nick about it later but for now, I'll let Razzle explain more about this Gorm place.

"There are five Nations in Gorm: Earth, Water, Forest, Air, and Fire. Things may look calm for now but the Fire Nation, led by the evil Lord Magmion, threatens to destroy that balance."

"How come?" Lucas asked.

"They seek to destroy the Gorm - don't ask me why - which also puts your world in danger."

"Why is that?" Jessica questions. "Is it because Gorm is parallel to Earth?

Razzle nods. "You catch on quickly, kid. If there's trouble in the Gorm, it means trouble for Earth too! That's where you guys come in."

"What do you mean?" I ask.

Razzle tells us to close our eyes. I'm not sure why but I do so anyway, squeezing them tight. I feel a pulsating weight in my hands which are outstretched - it changes from hot to cool, then back again - and the weird thing is... it feels like I am whole, as though a part of me has been missing my whole life and I just got it back.

I open my eyes when Razzle gives us the okay and look down at my hands. Nestled in my palms was a dark-blue sphere with a wave symbol on it. I look at the others and see that they are holding spheres too.

"These are your orbs," Razzle tells us. "They represent the powers of Earth," he points to Nick who holds an orange sphere with a mountain symbol, "Water," he points to me and I look once more at the wave, realizing that it is the exact same symbol as the one on the panel, "Forest" he points to Lucas who has a green sphere with a tree symbol, "and Air!" he points to Jessica who cradles her light-blue sphere with a wind symbol in her hands.

The orbs float out of our hands. I watch as Nick's orb rests on what looks to be an orange rock, Lucas' nestles on the branches of a green tree, Jessica's simply floating in mid-air and my own balances on top of a blue waterspout.

"Well, are you guys convinced now?" I ask, hoping that they are. After all, when would we ever get the chance to be heroes again if we didn't accept this?

Lucas grins. "If protecting Gorm means protecting Earth, then I'm in, buddy!"

Nick also smiles. "I have to admit, I had my doubts at first but I really do want to check out those books." I have to resist the urge to laugh - it figures that the huge library would be all it took to convince him.

Jessica frowns slightly. "I guess it could be interesting..." she says.

" _Could_ be?" I ask incredulously. I walk over to her and drape an arm over her shoulder. "It _will_ be!" I correct her as she good-naturedly pushes me.

"Well, I don't suppose things could get too boring with _you_ around." She admits before smiling. "I suppose I'm in too! I can't let you guys save the world without me, right?"

"Woohoo!" Razzle cheers. "This is wonderful! By the orbs of Gorm, the Lords of Nature have returned!"

I look at the others as we hold our hands high in the air and together we all cry, "By the orbs of Gorm!"

* * *

 _AN: Thanks for reading. Next chapter will be the beginning of the actual series so don't miss it!_


	4. Chapter 3 - The Sulfur Stone

_AN: Hey, guys! Welcome to Season 1 - Gormiti: The Lords of Nature Return! I would just like to reiterate that there will be scenes that didn't occur within the episodes due to the chapters being written from each character's individual perspectives as well as the inclusion of my own personal headcanons. Feel free to ask questions if you have any!_

 _Oh and, by the way, I will only be describing the transformations of each Lord (in their own book) once per season. Hope that's okay :-)_

 _I don't own Gormiti or its characters._

~••~

* * *

It had been a fortnight since Razzle had revealed that we were the Lords of Nature. Since then, we hadn't heard anything from the talking green lizard.

Right now, however, the only thing on my mind was complete and utter freedom.

Mom and Dad often go on vacation to lots of different places. Normally they take Nick and I with them but there was a glitch in the travel system and they were only able to get two tickets. This meant only one thing...

"Now remember, if you boys need anything, just call us," Mom says, practically crushing us in a hug. What was with Mom and her crushing hugs? She lets go and I get my breath back.

"Make sure you stay out of trouble!" Dad reminds us as he ruffles our hair.

Nick nods and walks off, mumbling something under his breath. I think I hear the word "chores" but I can't be sure.

I look at Mom and Dad, trying to pull off my best earnest expression. They look at each other warily then back at me. "Since you're going away for the weekend, can we have a pool party? Please?" I ask, remembering my manners for once. I had been wanting to have a pool party for ages!

"I guess it would be-" Dad starts to say.

"As long as you clear up afterward!" Mom interrupts.

"So is that a yes?" I ask and they nod. I whoop with excitement and hold the door open as Dad takes the last of their luggage to the car.

Nick comes into the hallway through the living room and Mom decides to hug us again before she leaves.

"Bye! Have a good trip!" We call as Mom gets into the car and we watch as our parents drive away.

I head upstairs to get my phone. A pool party would suck if it was just Nick and I. I grab my phone off my bedside cabinet and send the following message to Lucas and Jessica:

" _Mom and Dad away for the weekend. Having a pool party at ours! Be there! :-)"_

I receive their replies almost instantly. Both of them seem pretty excited. With the warm weather, a pool party is exactly what we need!

I decide to go downstairs after that so I can try something I've never been able to do while Mom and Dad were at home. I go to stand at one end of the hallway before I run forwards and allow my feet to slide over the floor, carrying me towards the kitchen.

"Sock surfing!" I cheer as I rocket through into the kitchen. "Woohoo - wipeout!" I look up just in time to see Nick who yells my name as I use the cabinet to steer myself away from him, accidentally knocking one of Mom's vases over. Luckily Nick catches it and puts it back before it hits the floor.

Leaning over Nick, I tap his shoulder. "Tag, you're it!" Nick doesn't seem to find it funny as he swats my hand off. I walk over to the cupboard and search for something to eat.

"This is no time for fun and games!" Nick lectures me and I sigh, wondering why my little brother has to worry about _everything_. "Mom and Dad are-"

I find a box of cereal and begin pouring it into a bowl as I cut in. "Gone for the entire weekend! Dude, we've got forty-eight hours for nothing _but_ fun and games!" I walk over to the microwave, put the bowl inside and shut the door.

As I begin setting the timer, Nick holds something in front of my face. I scan its contents before I turn to him, genuinely confused. "Uh, what's _this_?"

"An itinerary of chores" He informs me. I'm not sure if he's proud of himself for writing it out, indignant that I didn't know what it was or both. "Hey!" He yelps as I snatch his chore list right out of his hands.

I stare at the list for a mere second before draping my arm over Nick's shoulder. "Life isn't about sitting on the sidelines making chore lists." I begin, before jumping away from him. "You've gotta jump in - improvise!"

Behind me, the cereal inside the microwave begins... popping? As the pops grow louder, I gasp as the microwave door flies open and pieces of popcorn shower the kitchen floor. "Popcorn?" Nick's only response is to sigh, grab his list from me and head outside. "Just means more for me!" I say gleefully as I pop some into my mouth.

Once I finish eating the popcorn, I decide to watch some TV, taking the rest of the popcorn with me. I flick through the channels before something catches my attention. A local farmer seems to have a whole field of popcorn. What could be more awesome? I relax on the sofa after putting the remote back on its arm.

"So, Toby, does Nick know about the-" Jessica begins. Oh yeah, I totally forgot that she and Lucas said they were coming over.

"Swim party?" Nick interrupts her before turning to me. "Toby, we are _not_ having a swim party!"

"Why not?" Lucas questions. My thoughts exactly.

Nick turns away from me to face Lucas. "Well, _because_ -" he starts, holding up his chore list.

"Shhh!" I hiss. "Check this out!" I turn up the volume of the TV so we can all hear what the female reporter is saying.

"The strangest of these events was at this Venture Falls farm where a field of corn seems to have popped!" The image showed a cornfield with white smoke rising from the corn. Every couple of seconds, there were bursts as the corn popped before our eyes.

I place some popcorn into my mouth as Lucas sits down next to me. "This is terrible!" he exclaims. Personally, I didn't see what was so terrible about having a popcorn field.

"Lucas?" Jessica asks as the three of us stare at him.

"Living corn popped to death? It's a tragedy!" He says.

For the first time today, Nick and I finally agree on something. We look at each other then at Lucas before saying, unimpressed, "It's corn!" Lucas looks at us both, seeming horrified by our lack of concern.

"It _is_ weird," Jessica says thoughtfully, glancing at the TV. "What would cause such a thing?"

" _Magical steaming sulfur blasts!_ " A voice answers. Wait, that voice sounds familiar! What's more, it sounds like it's really close to me.

"Razzle!" Nick and Jessica say. Lucas and I scream, falling over backward as we notice the lizard perched between our heads on the back of the sofa. Razzle falls into the popcorn bowl of all places. We get back up, rubbing our backs as we sit down.

"Stop sneaking up on us like that!" Lucas snaps.

I hold my hand up in a _talking_ motion. "Talking lizard - kinda cool!" I say, still impressed by the fact that Razzle can talk. I then begin to wriggle my hand "Sneaky lizard - kind of annoying!" I say dryly, as I narrow my eyes.

Razzle folds his arms. "I'm trying to help here! Is it my fault there's trouble in the Gorm?"

Jessica looks worried. "Trouble for the Gorm means trouble for Venture Falls!" she reminds us. I guess I know where we're heading next.

"Race ya to the Primal Pad!" I challenge as I leap up from the sofa and start running.

"You're on!" Lucas accepts my challenge.

I hear Nick yelling, "What! Toby! Hey, wait up!" Just then, Lucas knocks into me and I fall over sideways, watching as he and Jessica run past me.

Lucas opens the pantry door and he and Jessica walk inside. I get up and start to follow them in when Nick grabs the back of my shirt and pulls me back out, causing me to yelp.

He holds his chore list up to my face. "Toby, this is _not_ on my checklist!" he says disapprovingly.

"So add it right there at the bottom!" I say, pointing at a blank space on the paper. " _Saving the Gorm!_ "

With that sorted, we both head inside the pantry. The grate slides open, revealing a panel. I swipe my hand over it, followed by Jessica, Lucas, and Nick - our elemental symbols revealed as we do so.

The center of the panel glows green and we watch as the floor forms a staircase that leads down to the Primal Pad. I follow Razzle as he leads the way down the staircase, the others following me.

We run to stand around the Gorm Gate as Razzle begins speaking. "For centuries, a great power has been guarded by a mysterious tribe of Earth Gormiti."

An image of a weird yellow stone thing appears in the Gorm Gate. "That power is the Sulfur Stone and it's been stolen, causing havoc in the Gorm and - uh - those weird sulfur blasts in your dimension! Your mission - retrieve this here Sulfur Stone and get it back to the Earth Gormiti tribe, stat!"

"Elementals!" We call out together.

"Air!" Jessica cries. Her light-blue orb glows with the Air symbol.

"Water!" I yell. My dark-blue orb glows with the Water symbol.

"Earth!" Nick says. His orange orb glows with the Earth symbol.

"Forest!" Lucas finishes. His green orb glows with the Forest symbol.

"Reveal to us the Keeper and give to them your chair!" We chant.

The chair begins to spin around at a blinding speed. I hoped that I wouldn't be chosen as the Keeper. This was our first mission - how anti-climactic would it be if I had to stay behind!

"And the keeper is..." Razzle paused for dramatic effect. We watched as the circle on the back of the chair glowed green with the Forest symbol. "Forest!" He runs over to Lucas. "That's you, kid!" He informs.

I couldn't see Nick's face but I could tell he was disappointed. "Hello? I'm the one who's been studying the tomes!" Yep, definitely disappointed.

"Too bad, so sad!" Lucas responds as he runs over to the chair and jumps into it. It rises up from the ground and rotates so that Lucas is facing the control panel. An image of Gorm appears onscreen. Lucas slides the crystals into place, activating the Gorm Gate. "Good luck in there, gang! Lucas has got your back!"

We run towards the portal and jump through, Razzle screaming as we move from one dimension to another. My eyes widen as I take in the sight of Gorm for the first time - the real thing, not just on a screen, I mean.

Lucas begins speaking to us from the Primal Pad. "Okay, guys, according to the Travel Tome, you should be surrounded by the jagged hills of the Rocklands." We get up and begin brushing ourselves off. "What do you see?" He asks.

A huge shadow obscures our view. "Uh, the welcoming committee?" I guess, my eyes going wide with fear before I dash away.

A Gormiti lets out a fierce cry as he raises his fist before punching the ground. We gasp as the tremor rushes towards us and knocks us off our feet. He growls threateningly at us.

I lift my hand off the ground as Razzle runs behind us. "You know, if _I_ had been the Keeper, there'd be powers by now!" Nick complains.

A flickering image of Lucas appears beside us. "Yeah, yeah, yeah - kicking your powers to full glow!"

All of a sudden, we hear something heavy crash into the ground. "Now what?" I wondered. I yelp as a huge spiky rock ball begins rolling...directly towards us!

We start to run away, none of us wishing to face death by being flattened. The rock ball gathers speed until it hits a dip in the hill and comes to a stop. It then stands up, revealing a second Gormiti.

"Prepare for a Steelback attack!" He yells as he starts to chase us. This wasn't good.

"Lucas?" I ask, looking back to see how much distance there is between us and the angry Gormiti.

"We've got glow!" He tells us.

As we continue to run, we yell together: "Elemental powers flow, Gormiti - Lords of Nature, go!" before we jump into the air.

"Powers of the Sea!" I yell. I find myself surrounded by bubbles as I spin around, transforming into the Lord of the Sea. My skin had turned blue, I grew a lot taller, my feet were now webbed and my hair had lengthened and thickened to form tentacles.

Once our transformations are complete, I run to stand beside Nick who is kneeling on the ground. Jessica hovers behind us before flying up and releasing a tornado from her hands, sending it towards the two Gormiti.

"Accursed wind-witch, you will pay for stealing our stone!" The second Gormiti yells.

Razzle pokes his head from behind Nick's leg. "Pay for doing what now?" He asks.

Nick looks thoughtful but I decide it's time to act. I run forwards, Jessica flying alongside me, clearly thinking the same thing I was. If these Gormiti wanted a battle, we'd give them one! "Go!" We yell together.

As we got closer, something hard and sharp hit the back of my feet, knocking me over. Jessica seemed to have been hit too as she also crashed to the ground.

I wince as I force my aching body into a kneeling position. That _hurt_.

Nick runs in between us and kneels down, taking one of our hands in his and holds them up in a surrender position. "We're on the same side here!"

Oh. That explained why he stopped Jessica and I from attacking them. They must be Earth Gormiti like him.

The first Earth Gormiti looms over us, his fist raised as he prepares to strike. Before he gets the chance, however, the second one intercepts the attack. "Wait!" He says. "They know the honor bow!"

I had no idea what "the honor bow" was but at least they weren't attacking us anymore.

"It says here that the honor bow is a highly revered gesture to the Earth Gormiti of the Rocklands," Lucas tells us.

The two Gormiti instruct us to follow them. Before we go, Lucas shuts our powers down, explaining that he wants to charge the orbs up in case we run into the real thieves.

I walk alongside Nick. I wanted to know how he knew about this _honor bow_. "How did you-"

"If you studied the tomes as much as I do, you would have known it too!" He tells me.

"Ooh, so it's a game of _Super Nerd_?" I tease before tapping his shoulder. "Tag, you're it!" I laugh as we stop in our tracks.

"We are Rocklands tribe." One of the Earth Gormiti says. "Our people have lived by this river for centuries."

I walk over to some Earth Gormiti who seem to be stirring something in bowls. One of them offers a bowl to me. I look inside and see that it is filled with brown gloopy stuff with lumps of rock. What's more, it smells terrible. "Thanks, but I'm not hungry." I decline.

Lucas projects his image beside me. "That's a first!" He says and I frown. I'm not _always_ hungry! "Maybe with chocolate sauce?" He suggests.

I pull a face. "Not even with chocolate sauce - yuck!"

After that, I rejoin the others as the two Earth Gormiti continue leading us through their village. "This is where our sacred stone rested for countless years." One of them says as we approach a building made of rock. "It heated the river and brought prosperity to our lands... until it was stolen by the lava eaters."

"Lava eaters?" I ask, confused.

"You mean Volcano Gormiti." Nick clarifies.

"They used their lava magic to transform our precious stone into a terrible weapon." The Earth Gormiti explains. "We fought many battles with the thieves - Lavor and the Screaming Guardian - but we were no match for the power of the Sulfur Stone."

"A power that sends sulfur blasts through the dimensional fabric and into the Venture Falls cornfields," Nick says.

"That poor defenseless corn!" Lucas says as he projects his image in front of us.

As one, we say, "It's corn!" and he chuckles.

"So where are the lava eaters now?" I was itching for a battle so I could see what I could do. Suddenly the Earth Gormiti let out cries of pain as they were hit by fire.

We all gasp as the culprits run to stand in front of us. "Here we go again!" Razzle yelps.

The Volcano Gormiti whose head is shaped like a volcano starts to speak. "We have returned to finish the job!"

"Guys, I'm detecting a weird energy signature in your vicinity - maybe the Sulfur Stone?" Lucas tells us.

"A little late for the newsflash!" I point out.

"Sorry, bro. Getting ready for glow!"

We start to back away as the Gormiti continues talking. "When your tribe of mud bathers is no more, then only _I_ shall hold the proper rights to this stone!"

"Yeah, hold that thought!" I say as we stop moving. It's time to battle, at last.

"Elemental powers flow, Gormiti - Lords of Nature, go!" We yell.

"Powers of the Sea!" I shout as I transform.

"Now - you were saying?" I ask once we've all transformed.

Jessica flies into the air and fires a tornado at the Volcano Gormiti. The one with the hook for a hand gets blown backward but manages to cling to a rock. He then fires yellow fire from his other hand. Nick and I manage to avoid it. Jessica, on the other hand, wasn't quite as lucky.

As the Gormiti continues to fire his attack, almost hitting Lucas' projected image, the yellow fire hit her, causing her to smack right against a rock. _Ouch!_

"Jess!" I yell as she falls, stunned, and lands heavily on the ground. All of a sudden, the ground begins cracking and we are all falling.

I manage to grab onto the rock wall, Razzle and Nick hanging onto me. Unfortunately, I was struggling to hold Nick's weight - now that he was made of rock, he was way heavier than I was.

I try in vain to hold on but I lose my grip and we fall, landing on the ground. I climb back up to join Nick and Razzle who screams and darts behind Nick's leg as soon as he sees the Volcano Gormiti.

Nick grunts as he releases dozens of small but sharp rocks at them. That must be what he hit me with earlier. Yeesh, no wonder it hurt!

The Volcano Gormiti raises his hand, surrounding himself with a wall of flames as the rocks melt away to nothing. He then disperses the flame wall with a yell.

His companion lets out a loud scream and the ground begins shaking violently. Oh great - not again! Sure enough, once more, the ground seems to disappear from beneath our feet and we are falling...again.

Just as I was considering whether I should have written my will or not, we found ourselves inside a small tornado that carried us safely to the ground before disappearing.

We rise to our knees as Jessica lands in front of us. "Nice work, Jessica!" I say, relieved that our lives haven't been prematurely cut short.

"Don't thank me - thank Lucas!" She says, holding her hand up in an _it was nothing_ motion.

"Who's got your back?" Lucas asks as if on cue.

The Volcano Gormiti jump down in front of us and we gasp. A wall of flames burns brightly behind them. "This is the part where I get the _drop_ on you!" The first one says, laughing evilly.

I spot the river behind them. Hmm, now what happens when fire is exposed to water again? Oh yeah! I use my control over water to create a huge wave of water, confusing the Volcano Gormiti. "The drop, get it?" the first one says, sounding angry that we didn't get his pun.

"Not as much as you will!" I say as the wave washes over them. The water rises up, soaking my feet before returning to the river.

When the water disappears, we discover that the Volcano Gormiti have disappeared too. The ground where they were standing is smoking.

"They're gone!" Jessica says gleefully. Just then, Lucas projects his image and, for some reason, he looks scared. _Really_ scared.

"Uh, guys, I need you back home, stat! We've got a situation here!" He says before his flickering image disappears.

We look up as a tornado forms above our heads. I grip Nick's hand then Jessica's as we form a circle. As the tornado carries us upwards, one of the Earth Gormiti asks, "You would abandon us now? The lava eaters are still out there!"

"Don't worry, we'll be back!" Nick assures them.

"We swear it by the orbs!" Jessica adds.

"By the orbs of Gorm!" We promise before we disappear from their view.

We rise up through the Gorm Gate, now back in human form, and run over to Lucas who looks even more scared than before.

"So what's the emergency?" I ask.

"The little weasel is here!" Lucas says as he rotates the chair to point out the screen which shows a small girl with short, dark hair and blue eyes frowning while pressing our doorbell.

"Paula Pinkney?" I lean in towards Lucas. "So why didn't you answer?"

Lucas holds his hands up in a surrendering motion. "Hey, it's _your_ house - you deal with her!" I narrow my eyes at him. Okay, I hate that sort of logic. The _last_ thing I want to do is deal with Ike Pinkney's eight-year-old sister who somehow manages to be ten times more annoying than he is! Unfortunately, it seems that we have no other choice.

After we leave the Primal Pad, Nick runs to the front door and opens it, revealing Paula who is standing on the porch tapping her foot impatiently. "Oh, hey, Paula! What's up?" He asks, trying to sound casual.

Paula starts trying to peer through the open door into our houses. "I wanna know what you're _doing_ in there!" She demands.

Nick attempts to block her view so I decide to help him out by sliding underneath his arm and blocking out even more of her view. "In here - what are we doing?" I ask rhetorically. "Nothing. We're just - y'know - hanging." I pull my best innocent grin to emphasize my point that we were _not_ up to anything weird.

Clearly confused but going along with it anyway, Nick adds, "Yeah, sure! Hanging! Like we do! Why?"

As we looked up, it soon became apparent why. Wow, I had no idea Venture Falls had become an aquatic city! The water is so high it almost completely submerges our mailbox. Wait, no, this is bad. "Cos you're, like, flooding the whole neighborhood!" Paula informs us.

Nick and I look at each other briefly before gasping, both of us terrified. I can't be sure but I think all the color drains from my skin. "The pool!" Nick realizes in horror before we hastily slam the door in Paula's face.

We turn to face Lucas and Jessica who both give us _what did you guys do now?_ expression. Figuring that we should find out what's causing the flood, we walk into the conservatory. It doesn't take long before we find the cause - the pool. Nick apparently didn't shut the hose off when he finished filling the pool so it just kept filling and filling and - you get the point.

"That's _one_ way to fill the pool!" Jessica says.

"And water the lawn!" Lucas points out.

" _And_ the patio!" Nick adds.

I didn't see the point in us standing here talking about it. "So let's go turn it off already!" I say as I go to open the doors.

"No!" All three of them yell, looking scared for some reason. As I open the door, we scream as we are washed off our feet by the water. The water starts to flood the house meaning that we are now all soaked.

"Oh, right..." I say sheepishly. Well, people make mistakes!

"This is a disaster!" Nick panics. "Our powers don't work in Venture Falls. What are we gonna do?" As he speaks, I pick up a piece of paper before tossing it away.

"Relax!" I advise him. "You know how long Mom and Dad take on their little travel excursions! We're gonna have plenty of time to-" The phone rings suddenly, causing all of us to gasp.

Nick splashes over to the phone and holds it to his ear. "Hello?" he says. "Oh, hey, how's your trip?" he adds, trying to sound casual. Must be Mom or Dad he's talking to, then. He makes affirmative noises as the other person talks before ending with an "Okay, love you!" He hangs up, placing the phone back in the holder but it dangles loose, beeping rhythmically.

"Mom and Dad checking in?" I ask hopefully.

"Checking _out_ of their hotel!" Nick tells us. He sighs as he sinks to the floor. "They're coming home early - _tonight!_ "

I walk over to him and sigh as I sit down. "We're chumped!" I groan.

Jessica picks up the piece of paper I threw away earlier and slams it down on the table. "Hey, if we can put a smackdown on evil Volcano Gormiti, I think we can handle a little house-cleaning!" She holds up the piece of paper so we can see it and, for the first time today, I'm actually glad to see Nick's chore list.

Nick and I exchange determined looks before nodding slowly. Time to do the chores!

Lucas sweeps a pile of rubbish into a bin which floats away. I take a bucket and fill it with some of the water before pouring it down the sink. I then go to grab another mop, hearing the whir of a drill in the background.

I begin to mop the water off the floor when my mop becomes tangled with Nick's. We look up at each other before we start hitting each other with the mops. We stand nose to nose while frowning at each other, mops held above our heads.

"Whoa!" Lucas yells as he jumps between us, his hands held up in a _calm down_ position. We fix him with identical glares and he runs away from us screaming as we repeatedly hit him with the mops, laughing all the while.

We stop upon hearing a strange sound. Oddly enough, when we look down at our feet, the water level seems to be going down rapidly. Finally, I can see my feet! We gasp and look over at Jessica who is tapping her finger against the vacuum cleaner. Apparently, she had tinkered with it to suck up the water a lot more quickly than we were managing with our mops and buckets. That girl's a smart cookie!

Soon enough, all the water has disappeared from the floor and is getting sucked into the vacuum and out into the garden through another hose which provides a sprinkler for our Jack Russel, Geo, who runs around while barking playfully.

I look at Nick who actually looks disappointed. I bet he wishes _he'd_ come up with that idea. Jessica and Lucas hi-five and we turn away from the window to straighten the house up.

I finish mopping the floor while Geo, who apparently decided to come inside, barks at me. I chase him out, not wanting his pawprints to ruin my hard work. Mopping that floor took a lot of effort, you know!

Once the job is done, we stand back to admire our handiwork. The house is practically gleaming and our parents can't complain that we made a mess of the house, right?

We head out into the garden to relax after our grueling hard work. Lucas and Jessica sink into the chairs, leaving Nick and I to flop onto our backs on the grass.

"This is terrible!" Jessica sighs. I look up at her, confused. She seems to be holding her hand up to her face. I didn't understand what was so terrible about the fact that Nick and I had been saved from a potential grounding. Wait, her hand? I think I know what this is about!

Nick is apparently as confused as I am. "What are you talking about?" He asks her. "This looks great!"

"Not the house!" She squeaks. "I broke a nail!" She holds up the offending finger and slumps down in her chair, looking miserable. Nick doesn't look too impressed. I look at Lucas and we both chuckle. I knew it - Jessica _always_ freaks over this sort of thing.

There is a sudden rumble of thunder and, as we look up at the sky, dark storm clouds move in overhead. "Haven't we had _enough_ water for one day?" Nick asks as lightning flashes and it begins to pour with rain.

We follow Nick - who is holding his hoodie over his head - back inside before we all stand at the window watching the storm from inside. The rain is pouring and it shows no sign of stopping anytime soon.

"Whoa, spooky!" Lucas says as lightning continues to flash.

"You don't know the half of it!" Razzle says from behind us. We gasp with fright as we spin round to face him and he screams as he darts underneath the sofa.

When he finally crawls out from his hiding place, we head back to the Primal Pad and stand around the Gorm Gate.

"So the storm is a dimensional rip through Venture Falls and the Gorm?" Nick guesses as we see an image of our hometown.

"Bad stuff in the Gorm has a bad impact on your dimension," Razzle explains.

"How much ya wanna bet that Sulfur Stone is at the heart of it?" I ask the others.

Razzle jumps onto the edge of the Gorm Gate and begins to pace. "I'm telling you - those Lava Gormiti are up to something big!"

"Guys," Jessica says, grabbing our attention. "These aren't the Venture Falls stormclouds anymore! That's the Rocklands - and look!" We watch as the image changes revealing the Rocklands, which appears to be flooding badly.

"We can't just stand here while those Rocklanders lose their home!" I say.

Lucas jumps back into the Keeper's chair, moving the crystals around to activate our orbs. "I've charged the orbs - you use the power!" He tells us.

"Let's do this thing!" I say determinedly before jumping through the Gorm Gate followed by Jessica, Nick and finally Razzle who yells after us to wait for him.

When we land, transformed once more, we see the Earth Gormiti trying in vain to hold up the rock wall. "It's no use!" One of them yells. "Run for it!" They begin trying to outrun the huge wave of water. Jessica uses her tornado to sweep them out of danger and to safety, the same way she had saved Razzle, Nick and I before.

"You have returned!" The same Earth Gormiti says gratefully.

"We'll take it from here!" I say before I execute a perfect dive into the water. I spin around to take control of the water and swim forwards, the water following me and moving away from the Rocklands.

I flip out of the water, landing on top of the rock dam Nick created. The water slightly soaks my feet before retreating, the dam preventing it from being able to move and flood the Rocklands. I give Nick a thumbs up and he returns the gesture. "I think that's what we call teamwork!" We start heading back to Jessica and the Earth Gormiti, our job complete...for now.

The Earth Gormiti get down on one knee, their heads bowed. I don't know why but maybe they're praying or something - thanking us? I have no idea.

"Excuse me?" Jessica asks suddenly, looking at a weird jagged rock. "What is this place?"

"Boulder Peak." One of them answers.

"Lucas?" Jessica calls.

"I'm already on the geography shelf!" He informs us. "The highest point in the Rocklands and - uh-oh..."

"Not liking the uh-oh!" Jessica says worriedly.

"It says here that Boulder Peak is a-"

"A magical nexus point!" Razzle says, his tiny body shaking with fright.

"What's a magical nexu - what?" I ask, confused by the term. I could guess it was something bad pretty easily.

Razzle jumps up to answer me. "A place where super-charged sulfur blasts can tear open a _massive_ dimensional rip to Venture Falls!"

Lucas adds, "Says here that the last time something like this occurred was six hundred years ago." Razzle groans.

"What happened?" Jessica asks curiously.

"I'll tell you what happened!" Razzle says. "An entire city was wiped _clean_ off the map is what happened!"

"Shh! Keep it down!" Nick hushes us. Wait, is that chanting or am I hearing things?

We look over at Boulder Peak and see the Screaming Guardian holding up the Sulfur Stone while roaring triumphantly. A crowd of Lava Gormiti seem to be the ones doing the chanting. We watch as the Sulfur Stone floats in the air, glowing while getting bigger.

"It's even worse than I thought!" Razzle despairs. "Even if you could contain the Sulfur Stone, you couldn't get past that army of hotheads!"

"We can't just stand around and let them wipe Venture Falls off the map!" I point out.

"What are we supposed to do?" Nick asks me.

What I do best... "Improvise!" I say as I stand up. I use my tentacles to lift a huge boulder above my head. "I hate to interrupt your ugly convention." The Lava Gormiti turn to face me in shock. "Anyone up for a game of catch?" I grunt as I throw the boulder, watching as it knocks several Lava Gormiti over as easily as bowling pins.

Lavor sighs angrily. "Do I interrupt _your_ megalomaniacal rituals?" he asks. "No - I think not! Get them!" He yells as he points at me.

Some of the Lava Gormiti start climbing the cliff on either side of me and I gasp as I realize that I will soon be surrounded by them. If I am going down, there's no way I'm going without a fight!

As I find myself surrounded, I use my tentacles to toss them away from me. "Crash one party and suddenly I'm Mr. Popular!" I say. Out of nowhere, one of the Lava Gormiti tackles me from behind causing me to scream as we crash to the ground.

The next thing I know is that I'm tied to the rock wall by my arms, legs and even my hair! These guys sure don't want to take any chances, huh?

Lavor begins talking again as red clouds form above the Sulfur Stone, before clearing to reveal Venture Falls. Why do I get the feeling that all of the bad guys we meet will all love the sound of their own voices?

"Soon the power of the stone will be unleashed by me and the name of Lavor - who is me - will be feared throughout the universe which will be _mine!_ " He turns to point at me, an unpleasant smirk on his face. "And there's nothing _you_ can do to stop me!"

"Maybe not me alone!" I admit as the wind starts to pick up. " But I am _not alone!_ "

I watch as Jessica aims her wind attack directly at Nick who stands in place while she rotates around him at a dizzying speed, forming a huge tornado that carries him upwards toward the Sulfur Stone. I was completely floored - what were they doing?

The answer quickly becomes apparent as Nick wobbles about on top of the tornado which moves toward the Sulfur Stone, allowing his hands to make contact with it. I almost find it funny...until the stone glows brightly and pulls him inside it.

Everyone watches with bated breath. For a while, nothing happens. Suddenly red rays of light begin shooting from the Sulfur Stone. They cut through the ropes the Lava Gormiti used earlier to tie me up and I manage to pull myself free.

The Lava Gormiti are screaming and running away in a panic. The stone glows brighter than ever before as it disappears, revealing Nick who is glowing yellow.

He floats above Lavor and the Screaming Guardian before turning over and opening his eyes which also glow yellow. They scream and run away in fright along with the rest of the Lava Gormiti. Lavor pauses for a moment. "This is so wrong on so many levels!" he declares before turning on his heel and sliding down the rock.

I watch in horror as Nick drops like a stone - I didn't mean that as a joke! - and hits the ground in human form. I feel a strange tingling sensation and the next thing I know, I'm back in human form. When I open my eyes, I see Jessica standing beside me, also back in human form. I guess our orbs must have been drained from the whole Sulfur Stone absorbing episode.

She taps me on the shoulder and I turn to look at her, immediately noticing how frightened she looks. "Nick!" she gasps, pointing in front of us.

I follow the path of her finger and what I see makes my face lose its color. "Oh no..." I whisper.

We both run forwards. My little brother is laid unconscious, clutching the Sulfur Stone - which is now considerably smaller - in his hand.

I reach him and kneel beside him. "Nick, are you okay?" I ask, concerned but also relieved that he's still breathing.

"That was amazing!" Lucas says from inside the Primal Pad, clearly impressed.

Razzle runs over to us. "Way to go, kid!" he says.

I shake him by the shoulder gently while Jessica pats his head to try and get some sort of response. "Talk to me!" I beg. "Say something!" This _cannot_ be happening! I can't lose him! As annoying as he can be at times - he's the only brother I've got...and I care about him!

He moves his hand and taps mine, slowly opening his eyes before saying, "Tag, you're it!" and chuckling. I narrow my eyes at him - does he not realize how worried I was about him? Despite that, I was relieved beyond comprehension that he was okay and, thankfully, unhurt.

We return to the Rocklands village where Nick presents the Sulfur Stone to the Earth Gormiti who accept it gratefully. He then joins Jessica and I in an honor bow as one of the Earth Gormiti proudly holds the Sulfur Stone aloft.

"We are indebted to the Super Gormiti. You are truly heroes!" He compliments. Man, it feels good to be called that!

"That they are!" Razzle agrees happily. "They saved both the Gorm and their hometown from some serious destruction!"

"Then come!" The Earth Gormiti declares. "Join us in rock soup celebration!" Wait, did he say _rock_ soup? We gasp as two bowls of the stuff, which is apparently a delicacy for Earth Gormiti, is held in front of us.

I cringe at the familiar but awful smell. Nick sniffs and groans with disgust. "That would be great!" I begin, hoping that I sound convincingly grateful. "But, uh, we've got this thing called _house-sitting_ on our chore list!" I roll down Nick's chore list as I speak. Fine - I admit it! I guess there can be times when making chore lists is useful like when you need an excuse not to eat rock soup! Nick and Jessica chuckle and Lucas brings us all back to the Primal Pad.

After Lucas and Jessica leave to go home, Nick and I stand in the kitchen. Suddenly the front door opens and Mom and Dad walk in with their suitcases. For some reason, they don't seem too happy.

"I think there's something you wanna tell us," Mom says as she and Dad stand in front of us.

"We saved Venture Falls from an evil volcano monster invasion?" I try nervously, knowing full well they won't believe me.

"You flooded the neighborhood with your big weekend swim party!" she says angrily.

How did she know about that? We practically broke our backs cleaning up the house. Who could have - oh, wait, I know _exactly_ who could have told them!

"Now, before we talk about how long you're grounded," Dad begins. Great, thanks, Paula! "I brought you a little something from our trip!" He holds a plate with a chocolate cake on it in front of us and I instantly feel horrified when he says "Chocolate mud cake!"

"A-ha!" I hear Razzle say from inside the pantry. Nick closes the door on him, causing him to scream as his tail accidentally gets trapped. Luckily Nick and I are the only ones to notice this.

Nick laughs and starts clapping. Mom and Dad look at each other with confused expressions before we all start laughing, Mom and I joining Nick in clapping. Though I'm not quite sure what we're clapping for!

* * *

 _AN: Thank you so much for your patience, guys! Sorry, this is late but I had a really busy weekend and today (Monday anyway) I had a really migraine :-(. Hope you enjoyed the chapter! See you next time!_


	5. Chapter 4 - Lucas Goes Green

_AN: Welcome to a new chapter of ROTLON!_ _To everyone who's new to the fic, welcome! To those who've been here since the beginning, welcome back! Hope you enjoy this_ _chapter!_

 _As always, I don't_ _own Gormiti._

~••~

* * *

I was walking to school with Nick. As we approach the school garden, we see our friend Lucas who appears to be yelling at two of our fellow classmates.

"This is _not_ a pathway! It's a school-sanctioned nature preserve!"

The boys look terrified and run off as Nick and I catch up with Lucas. One glance at my brother and I know he's thinking the same thing I am. "It's a garden!" We say together.

This only seems to make Lucas angrier. "It's _not_ a garden!" he insists. "It's the trees! It's the speckled sparrow! It's the purple poppy!"

I had only been half-listening to his rant. Upon hearing the last part, I dart forward and start looking around. "Dude!" I exclaim excitedly. "Purple puppy? Where?" I kneel on the ground and check behind a small bush.

Lucas doesn't seem too amused. "Not _puppy_ \- the purple _poppy_!"

"The official city flower," Nick informs me.

I get up and ask incredulously, "This is about _flowers_?"

"No," Lucas replies. "It's about respect for nature!"

"So, no puppy?" I ask, disappointed. After all, how cool would a purple puppy be?

"No puppy," Nick confirms.

Lucas growls and storms off towards the school. Nick and I shrug and head in the same direction.

As we follow him, we spot our other friend, Jessica, sitting against a tree while reading a book. "Hey!" she greets Nick and I as we approach while Lucas merely stalks past. "You realize this is _so_ not going to be good, right?"

I have no idea what she's getting at. "What do you mean?" I ask, confused.

She puts her book down and looks up at us. "I mean he's totally gonna go _Lucas_ on this!"

I exchange glances with Nick. Lucas has a tendency to go a _little_ overboard when he thinks people don't respect nature. "Uh-oh!" we exclaim together.

We head to class and sit down in our usual seats. When Miss McGurk takes the register, it takes Nick's jabbing of Lucas' arm for him to realize that she had called his name three times already.

When we have a break between our double chemistry lesson, I tap Lucas on the shoulder. "So, uh, what's the plan for getting people to respect nature?" I ask.

"Making sure people can't go through the garden!" he hisses in reply.

"How do you plan on doing that?" Nick asks and he merely shrugs.

"Just don't go over the top!" Jessica warns as the break comes to an end and the class resumes session.

The rest of our classes go by quite quickly, for a change. When the bell rings, Lucas practically sprints out of the classroom, not bothering to wait for us - he sure is eager to do whatever it is he's planning on doing!

After we collect some things from our lockers, we head outside and try to find Lucas. When we reach the entrance to the garden, we see red and blue balloons tied to both hedges as well as two smashed-up wooden boards. I think I know what he meant by not letting anyone through now.

We walk through the garden and soon spot Lucas sitting on the grass with a bird's nest on his knees. However, he is soon joined by someone very familiar. Razzle runs up and stands on his knee, saying something. They both scream, startled, as we approach.

"Are you two finished?" Jessica asks. Nick kneels down beside Lucas and unzips his backpack for Razzle to climb inside.

"You've got to be careful, Razzle!" he reminds the lizard. "Kids here aren't used to talking lizards from another dimension!"

Lucas gets up and puts the nest back in the tree as Razzle jumps inside the backpack. "Yeah, about that other dimension," he says anxiously.

"There's trouble in Gorm?" I ask.

Razzle gives me an _isn't it obvious?_ look. "Would I be here if there wasn't?" Okay, he has a point there but - oh no, I just remembered something!

I look up at the others. "It _would_ have to be on a Tuesday!"

"Why? What's Tuesday?" Razzle asks, confused.

" _Pastry day!_ " I groan.

When we get home, Dad is so busy baking he doesn't even notice us come in. We crouch on the stairs while I try to come with a way to get him out of the kitchen so we can access the Primal Pad. A-ha!

I walk down the stairs into the kitchen and stand next to Dad before turning around and winking at the others who grin in response. "This should be good!" Lucas says eagerly.

I take the box of baking powder off the cupboard and hide it behind my back just as Dad goes to grab it. He turns and sees me. "Oh, hey, son!" he greets me cheerfully. "You found me hip-deep in a breathtaking batch of blueberry biscuit bars but, uh - hey, have you seen the baking powder?" I chuckle as he walks toward the table, still stirring the mixture in a bowl.

I open the top drawer and see a full box of baking powder before shoving the one I had inside and quickly closing it. "Nope, not in here!" I lie before I start to push him in the direction of the front door. "Must have used it already!" Dad grabs his coat off the back of the chair as we pass.

"Oh, hey, Dad!" Nick greets. "Off to the store?" I open the front door and hold it as Dad puts his coat on.

Dad chuckles. "Yeah - I seem to be out of baking powder!" We all chuckle and wave goodbye as he leaves before I quickly shut the door and we head for the pantry. I sure hope Dad won't be too mad at me when he realizes he didn't actually _need_ to buy any more baking powder!

I close the doors and we all gasp and complain as we end up colliding in the cramped space. I honestly can't decide which is more painful: Jessica's elbow in my ribs - the girl has sharp elbows, okay! - or the fact that she, along with Nick and Lucas, has trodden on my feet at least three times in a fruitless attempt to make more room.

Lucas slides open the grate revealing the panel. As usual, we slide our hands across it one at a time and the panel glows green as the entrance to the Primal Pad is revealed by way of a staircase.

I lead the way down the stairs and we run to stand in front of the screen on the control panel as Razzle begins his explanation. "Destiny Valley is under attack by Bombos the Firepower!" The image shows an unfamiliar Lava Gormiti torching what is presumably Destiny Valley. "His fire spree caused a dimensional rift and torched a warehouse in Venture Falls!" I didn't know about that but then I don't really watch the news so...

"Oh, yeah!" Jessica interrupts suddenly. "By the docks - it was on the news!"

Whoa, hold on a minute! Did she just say what I _think_ she said?

" _You_ watched the news?" Nick almost chokes, sounding a little freaked. You and me both, little bro.

"I was _trying_ to watch _Celebrity Fashion Tips_ but the news was all ' _Hello! Fire at the docks!'_ " she explains as Lucas turns the Keeper's chair to face us. Okay, that's a relief! She's normal - panic over!

"Your mission is to find out what Bombos is up to and stop him!" Razzle tells us as we run to stand around the Gorm Gate in our usual positions.

"Elementals!" We call.

"Earth!" Nick begins.

"Water!" I yell.

"Forest!" Lucas calls.

"Air!" Jessica finishes.

The crystals behind us start to glow with energy as we chant, "Reveal to us the Keeper and give to them your chair!"

The chair begins to spin around as Razzle announces, "And the Keeper is..." he hesitates as the chair slows to a stop. Nick gasps in anticipation. Man, he _really_ wants to be the Keeper, huh?

"Air!" Razzle calls as a light-blue icon with the Air symbol appears on the back of the chair. He runs over to Jessica who giggles. "That's you, kid!"

Nick frowns as Jessica walks past him smiling. " _Jessica?_ " he protests indignantly. "But I spent all Saturday studying Gormiti spell scrolls! Where was she?"

"Saturday special on manicures," Jessica responds, walking up the stairs to the Travel Tome. "Keeper's gotta have nice nails!" She jumps into the chair and uses the crystals to open the Gorm Gate.

I jump in first followed by Razzle, Lucas, and Nick. I laugh as I descend, excited for our next adventure.

"And...touchdown!" Jessica says after we land. "Okay, guys, Travel Tome says you should be in Destiny Valley." She is quiet for a moment before asking, "Any sign of Bombos?"

The three of us look up and see a terrifying sight, causing us to yelp with fear. "I'm thinking _yes_!" I say.

Bombos seems to be doing exactly what he was doing when we saw him onscreen - torching Destiny Valley. We hide behind a hedge before he spots us and decides to burn us to a crisp. He roars fiercely as the flames being released from him become more intense. "Let's power up and take him down!" I whisper to the others eagerly.

"Hang on!" Lucas says, looking to his right. I turn my head in the same direction and see that another Gormiti seems to have appeared out of thin air! Judging by their leafy appearance, I'm guessing they're a Forest Gormiti. "Do you see that?"

The Gormiti walks past us slowly, clearly not wanting to be spotted. We duck down quickly just as he treads on a twig, the snapping sound accidentally capturing Bombos' attention.

"Huh?" Bombos turns around and yells "You!"

"Who, me?" A second voice asks.

"No, you fool!" Bombos shouts impatiently. "We've found him - Mimic the Forest Gormiti!"

We then hear a yell and then a startled cry. Mimic is lifted into the air by an unfamiliar Lava Gormiti with a purple claw for an arm. "Lavion?" he gasps, looking scared.

"I knew if we burned enough forest, I'd smoke you out!" The Gormiti named Lavion sneers. "And Bombos here knows how to burn so well!"

Bombos approaches and kneels before Lavion. "Anything for you, my lord," he says.

We raise our heads over the bush we are hidden behind. "Lavion?" Nick asks in a hushed voice.

"He looks pretty brutal!" I say worriedly.

"I'll check the books!" Jessica tells us from inside the Primal Pad. "But first we need to get your powers to full glow!"

"I see you remember your old friend Lavion," Lavion says, still holding Mimic in his claw. "Though it'd be hard to forget such chiseled features. Check out this profile! Very stately, hmm?"

Wow, this guy is _really_ in love with himself... and I thought Jessica could be vain sometimes!

Lavion seems to notice something in Mimic's hand and tries to grab it. "Not this time!" He throws a scroll onto the ground and yells, "Bombos, the scroll! Burn it!"

"As you wish, lord!" Bombos says, before raising his right arm, fire burning from the hole at the end. To our surprise, we see that he has two extra mouths on his chest.

"Let me torch it!" The right mouth begs.

"I wanna torch it!" The left mouth complains.

"Quiet!" Bombos yells, fed up. "We'll all torch it!"

I get the feeling this scroll is the only thing that can stop this guy. I dash out from behind the bush and grab it, running to safety as Bombos releases his flame, clearly confused when nothing happens.

"Denied!" I exclaim, holding up the scroll.

"You dare to interfere with the will of Lavion?" Lavion yells furiously. I notice that Nick and Lucas are standing on either side of me.

"Yeah, that's kind of our thing!" I tell him.

"You're good to glow!" Jessica informs us.

"Elemental powers flow, Gormiti - Lords of Nature, go!" We yell together.

"Powers of the Sea!" I yell as I transform.

"Alright, ugly," I address Lavion once we finish transforming. "Time to play nice or play with us!" I say, giving a thumbs up.

"Ugly?" Lavion gasps before yelling angrily, " _Ugly_!?" Yep, I was right - this guy just can't get enough of himself!

"Uh-oh!" Bombos says worriedly. "You shouldn't have said that!"

"Clearly the hideous _fish_ is jealous of my good looks!" Lavion says as Mimic struggles. Yeah, yeah, I'm absolutely blown away by how good looking he is. Never seen anyone more handsome - give me a break!

Lavion then tosses Mimic into the air. The Forest Gormiti crashes into me, knocking the scroll out of my hand as we hit the ground. Lucas acts quickly and uses his vines to grab the scroll before either Bombos or Lavion can. "Hello!" he says, waving the scroll in his hand.

All of a sudden, we hear a cracking sound. Lavion is ripping up a tree from the ground. He roars as he lifts it above his head while Bombos' three mouths torch one end of it with flames, all three of them roaring. Lavion grunts with effort as he throws the flaming tree at us, causing us to gasp.

Nick quickly gets into action. He steps in front of us and transforms his hands into hammers with a flash of yellow light. Just as the tree was about to hit us, he hits it with one of his hammer arms, causing it to disintegrate.

Bombos raises his right arm and prepares to fire. I quickly take control of a small stream and send a jet of water to counter his fiery attack. Steam billows around the area as the fire and water attacks collide.

When he realizes his attack didn't work, he lets out a furious yell and charges forward, his arm burning yet again. The water from the stream swirls around me as I direct it in Bombos' direction, yelling, "Powers of the sea!" Once more, when his fire and my water collide, steam is produced - only this time, Bombos isn't letting up. Well, in that case, neither am I! "Uh-oh, this one's so mad he's steaming!" I say as I fight to keep up my attack.

Out of the corner of my eye, I see Nick raise his fists and slam them down on the ground, sending a zigzag-shaped fissure toward Lavion who leaps onto a falling tree to avoid it. "I'm not just handsome, I'm agile too!" he says.

Jessica projects her image in front of Nick. The three of us listen to what she has to say, though I'm finding it difficult to hear her over the roar of fire and water. "Looks like this Lavion guy's been off the party circuit for a while," she begins. "Legend says a Forest Gormiti used some sort of scroll magic to banish Lavion for, like, a hundred years." She gasps suddenly. "That's gotta be Mimic!"

I continue to hit Bombos' fire with the water I was controlling when I hear Lavion rush towards Mimic. Judging by the sounds behind me, I guess that Nick must have managed to intercept his attack.

"What an honor it must be to fight against Lavion's mighty claw!" Lavion sneers.

"Oh, sure!" Nick says sarcastically. "It's the one thing I'll miss the most when Mimic banishes you again!"

"I-I thought I could but I-I _can't_ ," Mimic stutters fearfully. "I can't suffer through _that_ again!"

"What? Mimic!" Nick protests.

"Oh, you'll like this next move!" Lavion announces. "It's a Lavion original - I call it the Big _Squeeze_!"

I glance in Nick's direction and see Lavion's claw inches away from his head. "A little help?" he gasps as he struggles.

"Nick!" I yell as I instinctively run to help my little brother. However, in doing so, I forget about Bombos who tackles me to the ground, causing me to let out a cry of pain as all three of his mouths laugh evilly.

"Lucas, no!" Nick gasps suddenly. "Don't do it!" I can't see what Nick is so worried about, seeing that Bombos still has me pinned to the ground. If Lucas has a plan, though, he should go for it. After all, what could go wrong?

"But I'm of the forest," Lucas says calmly. "I can use the scroll and end this right now!"

" _Forest magic, trees, and seeds! Open a portal to suit my needs!"_ He chants.

As soon as the spell is cast, I feel a huge gust of wind. I lift my head off the ground and see that a tree trunk has split in two and bent to form a circle. A blue light glows in the center before yellow rays emit from it and I can also feel the wind coming from it.

Bombos looks around and grunts, crying, "No!" as he is swept into the portal.

"Not again!" I hear Lavion yell. "Not again!" I watch in horror as his claw grabs Nick's wrist and he drags Nick with him. I stretch my tentacles out, wrapping them around Nick's ankle.

"Hang on!" I say as I use all my strength to pull him free of Lavion's grip. I manage to pull him to safety just as he was halfway through the portal.

"Nooo!" We hear Lavion yell as the portal closes with a flash of light.

"Whoa!" Jessica says. "Totally massive magic spike in your vicinity! What just happened out there?"

I look around, still in awe of what just happened. "Lucas just rocked the house!" I tell her.

"How do you feel?" Nick asks Lucas as we both look over at him. "Are you alright?"

"I think so," Lucas says, looking a little shocked. "Yeah! Totally fine!" He then asks as Nick and I stand up and walk over to him, "But what happened to Mimic?"

The three of us look around but there is no sign of him anywhere - it's almost like he's vanished into thin air!

Jessica gates us back to the Primal Pad. "By the orbs of Gorm!" The three of us say as we come up through the Gorm Gate, back in human form.

"Lucas!" Jessica says angrily as he gasps and looks around. "You do _not_ tap magic like that without clearing it through the Keeper first!"

Lucas walks up to her. "Relax!" he says. "I saved the day!"

"With a magic surge that nearly cracked our crystals!" Jessica points out. Sure enough, when we look, most of the crystals on the control panel have smoke rising from them.

Nick and I walk up the steps to join them in front of the control panel. "The spell worked," Nick begins. "Why do you think Mimic was so afraid to use it?"

"Who knows?" Lucas replies, sounding confused. "The important thing is that Lavion and Bombos are gone and all our worlds are safe again, right?" He grins.

Nick moves forward, frowning. "Yeah, but what if something happened to you in the process?" He asks as I move to stand next to Lucas before he adjusts his glasses. "What if-"

"Relax!" I interrupt before he can start ranting about the _what ifs_. Sometimes I think Nick could really do with learning not to worry so much! I put my hand on Lucas' shoulder. "Our buddy Lucas is fine!"

We head back to school for our Biology lesson with Professor Senwick. The actual lesson goes by pretty quickly so he says to us, "You can take the rest of our class time to absorb today's lesson!" before chuckling and sitting down in his chair.

I drum my fingers on my desk when I hear Lucas say, "You were tromping through the campus garden again, weren't you?"

"So what if I was?" Ike Pinkney asks uninterestedly.

"The speckled sparrow needs a safe home too, you know!" Lucas says as the bell rings, signaling the end of the lesson.

As Nick and I walk over to join him and Jessica, we notice that he has _leaves_ in his hair. Jessica seems to be holding one of them, which explains his earlier yelp of, "Ow! What are you doing?"

Jessica doesn't seem to know what to say. "Oh, it's just that you're - uh - " she stutters.

"Hey, guys!" Nick interrupts her as I walk closer to Lucas whose head, on closer inspection, is _covered_ with leaves - almost like he's been dragged through a hedge backward!

"You lose a fight with a ficus?" I ask as I pluck one of the leaves from his head.

"Ow!" He protests. "Not you too!" He frowns and backs away, as though afraid we might try and pluck more leaves from his head. He is then distracted by something going on outside.

I turn to glance out of the window, wondering what he's so worried about. I see Ike running through the garden. "Speckled sparrows!" Lucas gasps as he spots a bird's nest in a tree - a mother and her chicks. Ike seemed to be heading straight for them, not that he probably cared.

He dashes out of the classroom, ignoring Jessica's cry of, "Lucas, wait!"

Nick looks at me. " _Lucas is fine!_ " he says in a poor imitation of my voice. "What part of leaves growing out of his head would you call _fine_ , Toby?"

"Oh, come on!" I retort. "It's not like you _knew_ this would happen!"

We glare at each other before Jessica jumps between us, her arms folded. "Guys, enough!" she says impatiently. "We've gotta find Lucas before things get any worse!"

As we leave the classroom and set off to find Lucas, I wonder how things _could_ get any worse.

Outside we spot Jessica's friend, Gina, leaning against the wall, with what looks suspiciously like one of the leaves from Lucas' head in her dark hair.

"Gina!" Jessica calls as we approach her. "Have you seen Lucas?"

Gina ignores her and continues to stare into space, a dreamy expression on her face. Everybody in the school knows she has a _huge_ crush on Lucas - everybody except _Lucas_ , that is!

"Gina!" We all yell and she jumps before turning to face us.

"Oh, hey, guys!" she greets us. "Did you say something?"

"Have you seen Lucas by any chance?" Nick asks and she nods her head rapidly, blushing.

"Do you know which way he went?" I ask and she points in the direction of the garden.

"Thanks!" We yell as we dash off in the direction she pointed to.

"No problem!" she yells after us.

When we reach the garden, we discover to our shock that things _have_ gotten much worse!

Lucas lays flat on his back, his eyelids quivering as they open and his eyes slowly focus on us, standing above him. He groans as we look at him, our eyes wide at what we are seeing.

"Lucas?" Nick asks uncertainly.

"Oooh, maybe some serious moisturizer?" Jessica suggests.

"Dude, you've gone Gormiti!" I exclaim, deciding to point out the obvious.

Lucas the Gormiti rolls his eyes at me. "Tell me something I _don't_ know!" he says sarcastically.

"We've got to get you back to the Primal Pad!" Nick tells him before we move forward and try to lift him. "Maybe Razzle can-"

We try our best but the combination of his weight and the fact that he seems to be stuck to the ground somehow means that we all end up hitting the ground after a few moments of straining. Well, that probably pulled a few muscles!

"Even if we get him off the ground, how do we get back to the Primal Pad?" Nick asks. "He's too heavy for us to carry all the way home!"

We look around for something that might help. "I've got it!" Jessica exclaims suddenly as she snaps her fingers before running off and coming back with a wheelbarrow. "We can use this!"

"Good idea, Jess!" I say as she sets the wheelbarrow down. "Now we just have to get him into it!" Which, I admit, is probably going to be easier said than done.

Once more, we approach Lucas and try to lift him off the ground. Though my muscles protest, I grit my teeth and continue to strain, seeing Nick and Jessica doing the same. Eventually, we hear a snapping sound and we all go flying for a second time as we finally pull him free.

Nick and I lift him into the wheelbarrow before Jessica throws a plastic sheet over him. We stop for a moment to catch our breath. "I don't know about you guys," I pant, as I try not to focus on the fact that the in-and-out motion of breathing actually hurts right now, "but I ache in places I didn't even know _could_ ache!"

The others nod slowly, probably too exhausted or too in pain to reply.

After a few moments, we see Professor Senwick approaching, notebook in his hand as usual. "Uh, shouldn't you be in class?" he asks, frowning at us. I quickly pull the plastic sheet over Lucas' head while Jessica and Nick hold onto it, nervously chuckling. If our teacher spotted Lucas, we would have a _lot_ of explaining to do!

"We are!" I exclaim, even though it's a blatant lie. "I - We're, uh -" I struggle to come up with an excuse as to why we're outside and not in class like we should be.

"What he _means_ is we're on the campus... _beautification_ committee!" Jessica says hesitantly, coming to my aid.

"That's right!" Nick cottons on quickly. "Lugging off this, uh, termite-infested old trunk!"

"Hey!" Lucas says indignantly, as they both gasp nervously.

I hastily fake a coughing fit and Jessica walks over to Professor Senwick and says in a hushed voice, "Allergies!"

Luckily for us, Professor Senwick buys our excuse and walks away, sighing, "Kids!"

I take hold of the handles of the wheelbarrow and start wheeling it home while Jessica and Nick walk alongside it. I wink at Lucas as we walk, hoping that he's not mad about being passed off as a rotten tree.

When we get home, I take hold of Lucas' legs and Nick grabs his arms. Together we lift him out of the wheelbarrow and into the house, Jessica following along behind us. It sure is a good thing Mom and Dad are at work right now!

We get to the pantry and see Razzle perched on top of the washing machine. His face looks shocked as he sees Lucas. "You look a little _green_ , kid!" he says.

After we open the entry to the Primal Pad - we had to flip Lucas upright then kinda shove him forward so his hand could slide over the panel, we start heading down the stairs as Razzle stands on top of Lucas.

"No wonder that Mimic was too chicken to read the scroll!" he says. "He knew there'd be some back-cast!"

I frown in confusion, having no idea what _back-cast_ even was. "Yeah, just because a lizard can talk doesn't mean he's gonna make sense!" I say.

"Look," Razzle begins to explain. "Old scrolls have trouble containing their magic." He turns around to face Lucas before continuing. "When _Treetop_ here opened the portal, some of it splashed back on him!"

"Back-cast?" Jessica says thoughtfully as we finally get down to the Primal Pad. "So it's like when your hairspray gets on your hands?"

We put Lucas down on the floor and Razzle climbs onto his head. "If I ever grow hair, I'll let you know!" he tells her. "The point is, some of this essence got sucked into that portal and it threw his body out of whack!"

"I'm not just turning into my Super Gormiti form!" Lucas says worriedly as a couple of leaves sprout from his head. "I keep rooting like a real tree!"

"So how do we keep Lucas from turning into a _total_ tree?" Nick asks curiously.

"Well," Razzle says, looking thoughtful, "aside from a _ridiculous_ amount of luck, you're gonna need two things!" He scampers off and digs through some stuff before emerging, holding the scroll. "One - that scroll! And two -" he dashes off again, lifting Lucas' orb off its branch-like pedestal. "You're going to need _this_!"

He scampers over to us and hands Nick the orb before we head over to the Gorm Gate, Nick and I carrying Lucas between us, and jumping in.

We land back in Destiny Valley and Nick holds the orb carefully in his palm. "So my orb will absorb the missing essence inside the portal!" Lucas says.

"Look what that spell's _already_ done to you!" Nick worries, and for once I agree with him. He moves the orb away from Lucas. "Don't be a hero, Lucas!"

"You _can't_ read that scroll again!" I insist. "There's gotta be another way!"

" _Listen to your friends!_ " A voice says suddenly. We turn and see that a familiar Gormiti has appeared out of nowhere!

"Mimic!" Nick exclaims as said Gormiti walks over to join us.

"I, too, rooted as a tree after banishing Lavion over a hundred years ago," he begins as the three of us listen. "I stood for eighty _long_ years waiting for the back-cast to wear off enough that I could finally walk again as Gormiti." He lowers his head slightly. "I never have fully recovered. To this day, I am still a mere shade of my former self."

Jessica projects her image beside us. "Uh, guys?" she says as we turn to look at her. "I've been doing some research on the rift. Venture Falls wasn't the only place getting hit with freak fires!"

"Relax!" I say, grinning. "Lavion and his pal are stuck in a portal!"

"Make sure you keep it that way!" she warns us. "If they start torching again, we could have a global firestorm!"

"You sure you can handle being in that portal with Lavion and Bombos?" Lucas asks. He grunts as his feet start to root. I gasp as branches start sprouting from his body which, by now, is almost completely covered in bark.

Nick yelps as a branch almost hits him in the face before saying, "If you can handle casting that spell, then we can handle those hotheads!" He looks up at Lucas' face. "Uh, Lucas? Lucas!"

We watch in horror as Lucas' face is covered with bark. "Lucas, no! No!" Nick yells, sounding terrified.

"Oh snap!" I exclaim. How are we supposed to get into the portal if Lucas can't read the scroll? I manage to prise the scroll from his hand with some effort. The bark had made his limbs and body totally stiff. "Now what?" I ask desperately. "What are we gonna do?"

"I will read the accursed scroll as I should have in the first place!" Mimic says.

Nick and I frown at one another. I didn't understand why Mimic suddenly wanted to help us. "You refused to read the scroll before so why now?" I ask.

"Your friend was brave enough to sacrifice his life for mine," Mimic explains. "I am honor-bound to return the favor!"

I glance at Nick. This could be our only chance to save Lucas and we don't have time to think of anything else. I step forward and hold out the scroll to Mimic, who takes it from me before unrolling it and reciting the spell that had started this whole mess:

" _Forest magic, trees, and seeds! Open a portal to suit my needs!_ "

"It's all up to _us_ now!" I yell to Nick over the roaring wind as the spell is cast.

"What do ya say?" Nick asks nervously. We watch as the same tree as before appears, a blue light glowing from its center.

I tap him on the shoulder. "Tag, you're it!" I say as I start to run towards the portal. He follows me and we disappear into the light.

We land in what seems like a cave with crystals sticking out of the ground and walls. "Oh, so this is what eternal banishment looks like!" I say, looking around.

"You!" Lavion says as Nick and I gasp and turn to face him.

"Let's get this done before these guys try to escape!" Nick says shakily. "Jess?"

"It's glow time!" Jessica confirms.

"Powers of the Sea!" I cry as I transform.

"Hey, Toby!" Nick calls to me as he holds Lucas' orb up. "It's working!" We watch as pale-green flecks of light rise from the orb until they hit some crystals on the ceiling. Then darker green flecks of light swirl from the crystals and enter the orb.

"Bombos, time to heat things up!" Lavion commands suddenly. All three of Bombos' mouths shoot fire at us. I move aside to avoid the blast while Nick ducks. Unfortunately, when Bombos fires a second blast of fire, Nick loses his balance...and his grip on the orb! I move over to him as we watch the orb.

It rolls across the floor away from us. "The orb!" Nick exclaims as I grab hold of his arms and help him to his feet. The orb stops at Lavion's feet - he picks it up with his claw.

"What do we have here?" he asks, holding up the orb. "Something that would crush quite easily!"

Bombos chuckles evilly before releasing fire from his hollow right arm. "Toby!" Nick yells in warning. We stand behind a boulder that seems to be withstanding Bombos' fire. For now.

"Ah, it's good lighting for me, isn't it? With the flames?" Lavion asks, smirking. "Makes me look _extra_ evil!"

I decide that there's no point in hiding anymore. I run out from behind the boulder and leap onto a small ledge behind Lavion and Bombos, performing a front-flip as I do so. I watch as Nick pushes the boulder in front of him as he moves closer to Bombos.

Lavion lets out a surprised yell as I use my tentacles to snatch Lucas' orb right out of his claw. Unfortunately, he manages to grab hold of them with said claw and I grunt with pain as he pulls me down from the ledge and I collide heavily with the ground.

I continue to struggle with Lavion's claw when I hear Nick yell my name. I manage to pull myself loose as Nick tosses Bombos in the air, allowing me to hit him directly with a blast of water from my stomach. He hits the wall and falls to the ground, steam rising from his body.

Lavion uses his claw to trap me once more by grabbing a tentacle. "I'll escape and torch the entire valley to a cinder!" he boasts as I manage to use one of my other tentacles to pick up Lucas' orb. I grunt with pain as he continues, "and in the middle of the wasteland - a giant cinder statue of _me_!"

I think I've just about had enough of this guy's voice! I wrap my tentacles around his mouth before getting up and using another tentacle to place the orb in my hand. "It's always me, me, me with you!" I say before yelling, "Heads up!"

I toss the orb to Nick who gasps but presumably manages to catch it. Lavion attempts to pull me over but I move backwards and send him flying with my foot. He grunts as he hits the ground.

I get up and look around to see that his claw is jammed in the ground. "What!" he says as he struggles to pull himself free. "No!" Nick and I begin walking towards the portal as he yells "No!" once more, still trying to escape.

"So, Lavion," I say as we stop just before we reach the portal, "I see you've decided to _stick_ around!"

"Good one!" Nick says, amused, before adding, "Oh, and Toby? Tag, you're it!" Hey, that's supposed to be _my_ line! He taps me on the shoulder before walking through the portal and I quickly follow, not wanting to be left with Mr. Can't-Go-Two-Seconds-Without-Talking-About-Himself.

As I leap through the portal, I hear Lavion tell us to wait and then demand to know where we're going. His voice begins to get fainter as we travel through the portal but I think he says, "I am Lavion - _Lavion_!"

Great. Glad we've established that.

The journey back to Gorm transforms us back into human form. We jump out of the portal and stand in front of the Lucas-shaped tree.

Nick walks up to him with the orb in his hand. "Let's hope this works!" he says hopefully. Mimic bows his head and I watch nervously, waiting for something to happen.

The orb begins to glow brightly before a whirlwind surrounds Lucas. We shield our eyes from the combination of bright light and swirling leaves. There is a flash and we find ourselves sitting on the ground with a human Lucas standing before us. He chuckles as we say "Lucas!" happily, getting up off the ground. I'm so glad he's back to normal - I don't think I would've enjoyed trying to talk to him as a tree very much!

To our surprise, the orb produces a second whirlwind of leaves. We watch as it surrounds Mimic and when it clears, his once-frail body now looks healthy and strong. He cheers before turning to us. "Thank you," he says gratefully. The three of us simply chuckle.

After we gate back to the Primal Pad, we head back to school. Jessica excitedly tells Lucas that she has something to show him and drags him to the garden.

Nick and I decide to head for home since Nick insists on getting his chores done before Mom and Dad get home from work.

About ten minutes after we get home and I flop onto the sofa, I get a text from Lucas saying, " _Turning into a tree may not have been so bad! Ike was planting purple puppies in the garden!_ I nearly drop my phone before another text comes through. " _Sorry, I meant_ poppies!"

I grumble before calling for Nick who appears in the doorway after a few moments, wearing rubber gloves.

"Did you hear-"

"About Ike?" he interrupts before grinning. "Yeah, Lucas texted me. Apparently, he kept muttering about a tree-freak!"

I cannot help myself and I burst out laughing. "I bet he looked terrified!"

Nick's mouth twitches before he, too, starts laughing. When we finally manage to catch our breath, I ask, "Do you think he managed to get a picture?" Once more, we begin laughing as we picture Ike Pinkney in gardening gear planting purple _poppies_ with a terrified expression on his face!

* * *

 _AN: I'm so sorry this is late! I meant to have it up by Sunday at the earliest but last Thursday (when I usually start writing), I had to go to the hospital with really bad abdominal pain - it turned out to be a kidney stone and_ not _my appendix, as I'd originally thought. So things ended up a bit behind schedule._ _I've decided that I am going to try to write two chapters at a time but still post them weekly so I don't fall behind schedule._ _Thank you for reading and hope you enjoyed the chapter! Until next time, everyone!_


	6. Chapter 5 - The Keeper Kept

_AN: Welcome to another chapter! I'm glad people are enjoying this fanfic!_

 _To the guest reviewer, thank you so much for your kind words! It really made me happy! I hope this chapter and the fic, in general, continues to be a source of enjoyment for you and for other readers :-)_

~••~

* * *

I sit in the living room with Lucas as we play Snap for what seems like the fiftieth time. Lucas groans as I take the pile of cards and add it to my considerably larger pile.

"Won again!" I cheer happily.

"Oh man!" Lucas says disappointedly.

Just then the front door opens and shuts. We look up to see Nick and Jessica walk in, coming back from the Archaeology Club meeting. Nick looks thoroughly depressed and Jessica looks sympathetic.

As they sit, or rather slump in Nick's case, down, I ask, "What's up, little bro?" Nick's response is to sigh heavily.

"Is it something to do with the Archaeology Club?" Lucas guesses. At the words _Archaeology Club_ , he slumps down even further.

"Ike challenged him to a club debate and the winner gets to be president of the club!" Jessica informs us.

I exchange a look with Lucas before I get up and walk over to Nick. "Come on, little bro!" I say encouragingly. "You can beat Ike Pinkney in a debate anytime!"

"Toby's right!" Lucas agrees. "We'll all help you out too!"

"You guys would really do that?" Nick asks as he sits up and stares at us.

"Of course!" We say along with Jessica.

Nick smiles at us gratefully. "Thanks!" he says.

We decide to make posters encouraging people to vote for Nick so we head outside into the garden.

Once outside, I look inside the shed and find some barely-used art supplies. I manage to carry two of the easels out while Lucas grabs a third. Jessica grabs the paper, pencils, paint, and brushes before following us back outside.

The three of us set up our easels and start to draw an image of Nick on a piece of paper. Once we finish that, we start painting them, none of us really speaking.

Eventually, Nick, who had been sitting with his head in his hands, breaks the silence by complaining, "I wish I could be president of my _own_ archaeology club without having to win some stupid debate!"

By this point, our paintings are almost finished. I look up from running my paintbrush over some spots I missed to say, "I thought you were already the club president!"

Nick sighs heavily. "Technically, no," he answers with a face like thunder.

"Don't sweat it, bro!" Lucas says encouragingly. "No one's gonna vote for Ike!"

Jessica groans. "But if you win, we'll have to dig through _dirt_ and stuff!"

Nick stands up. "It's an _archaeology_ club!" he says indignantly.

"Hey, I'm here helping you, right?" Jessica responds, looking and sounding annoyed. She then turns back to her painting and splashes red paint onto it.

I move behind her to block Nick's view of her work and ask, "So when is this _big debate_?"

Now Nick's face _really_ looks like thunder! "Tonight!" he replies gloomily.

" _Well, you've got my vote!_ "

We look down and see Razzle standing between Lucas and Jessica. In an instant, we all scream, Nick, being so startled he actually falls over backward!

"Hey, Razzle." Jessica greets calmly, having been the only one of us not to scream, as the lizard jumps on her shoulder. "Trouble in Gorm?"

Razzle folds his arms. "Would I be here if there wasn't?"

We put our paintings on racks inside the shed so they can dry while putting everything else away before heading inside the house.

Unfortunately, we find that getting to the Primal Pad won't be easy. Mom and Dad are in the kitchen cooking... _again_. We hide on the stairs and watch carefully.

"Your parents are such a pain!" Jessica hisses at me as I sigh. "I wish they didn't spend so much time in the kitchen!"

"Tippy toes, people!" I whisper before I get up. I wander towards some beakers and knock them on the floor before rushing out of sight.

"Oh!" Mom exclaims. She and Dad go to investigate while I open the pantry doors, allowing the four of us to sneak inside undetected.

We turn around and, to our confusion, see Razzle perched on top of the washing machine. "What? I get around!" he says.

Nick swipes his hand over the grate which slides back to reveal the panel which he then slides his hand over once more, followed by Lucas, myself and Jessica. Ths panel glows green and the stairs to the Primal Pad appear. As usual, I lead the way down into the cavern.

We walk over to stand in front of the control panel and look at the screen which is currently showing Gorm. Razzle stands on the control panel and the image eventually changes to show the shoreline. "The Sea Gormiti of the southern coast are causing tectonic instability along the coastline!" he begins. "We're talking about a serious - uh - interdimensional rift influx, people!"

The image once again changes to show water flooding the subways as people fled and man-hole covers being forced into the air by the waterspouts. "Remember those floods in the Venture Falls subways?" he asks.

"Subway surfing, anyone?" I ask, grinning.

"Don't laugh!" Razzle says seriously and I look at him, confused. "If the Sea Gormiti aren't stopped, your entire city could be washed right off the map!" I gasp in shock. Okay, that definitely would _not_ be good!

We run to stand around the Gorm Gate but instead of us calling our elements individually, we all say them together:

"Elementals: Earth, Water, Forest, Air! Reveal to us the Keeper and give to them your chair!"

"And the Keeper is..." Razzle waits as the chair starts spinning around at high speed only to finally stop on a blue circle with the Water symbol on it. Wait. Oh no.

"Water!" he announces. This _cannot_ be happening. Who wants to be stuck in the Primal Pad? Not me, that's for sure! "That's you, kid!" he adds, pointing at me. As if I didn't already know!

"Aw, man!" I say as I slump over. "I _hate_ being stuck in the Primal Pad!"

Not even trying to hide my disappointment, I shuffle over to the chair and sit down as it rises, bringing me level with the control panel. I open the Travel Tome and tap a picture of the southern coast with my finger. "I wish I could be in the Gorm where all the action is!" I say as I manipulate the crystals to open the Gorm Gate.

The others jump through the portal and I am left alone to watch the screen and fiddle around with crystals. Sounds like fun. Not!

"And," I say as the crystals sink into their slots, "they're in!" I glance back at the Gorm Gate which has now deactivated. Why did _I_ have to be the Keeper? They get to save the world and all I get to do is _watch!_

"Travel Tome here says you're at the Beach of the Lonely Escape!" I inform the others after consulting the said book.

"Why would anyone wanna escape?" Lucas asks. "This place looks like loads of fun!"

After they try and fail to communicate with the Sea Gormiti - who, for some reason, are smashing up rocks and looking through the debris -, I notice that the crystals on the control panel are flashing. Definitely _not_ a good sign...

"Uh, guys, the grid's giving signs of a Fire Gormiti in your area!" I warn them. "You might wanna power up!"

I watch the screen as a shadow appears in their view and they stare at whatever or whoever is in front of them. "Uh, guys? Guys?" I say, trying to get their attention.

The Fire Gormiti, who has only one eye, starts saying, "Gaze into my eye! Gaze into my eye! You cannot resist the will of Firespitter! You _will_ do as I command and I command you to... get me a sandwich!"

To my utter bemusement, Nick, Lucas, and Jessica actually _listen_ to the creep and start walking in the direction Firespitter had pointed in. He then has a change of heart as he holds up a hand to stop them. "No, wait! There's no time for snacks!" he cries. "You will join the others in... the _search!_ " Again they obey and march off in the direction he points them in.

This is getting _weird_! What is going on out there? "Uh, Toby, we've got a problem here!" Razzle tells me nervously from inside a shell.

I slide the crystals in place. "Orbs are charged and good to glow!" I say. I glance at the Gorm Gate and see that the Earth, Forest, and Air orbs are rising up, indicating that they are at full power. "The team can transform at will!"

"No, they _can't!_ " Razzle says insistently. "This Lava-loon's given 'em the _evil eye!_ "

"What do you mean?" I ask as I project my image beside him, still confused about what's going on.

"I mean they've all gone _zombie_ for this bug-eyed hothead!" he elaborates.

I shrug. "Well, I'm stuck here in the Primal Pad! What do you want _me_ to do?" I ask.

"Something! _Anything!_ " Razzle cries desperately before his image flickers and I watch the screen go blank.

I sigh and lower my head. There is _one_ thing I can do but is it the _right_ thing? Still, there's no time to think. I _have_ to do _something!_

"Razzle's right!" I mutter as I make up my mind. I use the crystals to reactivate the Gorm Gate and charge up my own orb before getting out of the chair and walking over to stand on the ledge. "Keeper or no Keeper, it's up to me!"

With no time to consider everything wrong with what I'm planning, I leap through the Gorm Gate and yell, "Go! Powers of the Sea!"

I land on the southern coast and hide behind a huge rock. Peering out, I spot Nick, Lucas, and Jessica marching alongside each other, their feet falling at the exact same time. Each of them was holding a rock.

"Guys!" I say and they turn their heads in unison to look at - or rather through - me. There is no recognition in their eyes at all. It's like they don't even know who I am! They turn away as one and continue walking. It's definitely creepy and unsettling, to say the least. "Uh, guys?"

"Behold!" A familiar voice says and I look around for its source. Firespitter pops up out of nowhere and stands directly in my line of sight. "Gaze into my hypnotic eye!"

I gasp as I feel myself beginning to fall under his spell. I feel completely weird and all sounds seem muffled like I'm underwater. "Not you too!" I hear Razzle cry. The lizard wraps my tentacles around my face. "Snap out of it, kid!"

As soon as my vision is obscured, my hearing returns to normal and I no longer feel weird. Firespitter couldn't hypnotize me...and he _wasn't_ happy.

I hear him fire a blast at Razzle who yelps and, presumably, dives for cover. " _Never_ try to block my eye!" Firespitter threatens.

By now, I am unbelievably angry. _Nobody_ \- human or Gormiti - hurts my friends and gets away with it! I shake my head and glare at the Lava Gormiti. " _Never_ mess with my friends!" I yell before I let out a roar and release several water globes from my stomach, keeping my eyes shielded the entire time.

"You have no _friends_ here!" Firespitter says tauntingly before commanding, "Get him!"

I start to back away, still firing my water globes when, to my horror, I hear the Sea Gormiti begin to chant, "Get him!" over and over. Great. Could this _get_ any worse?

I turn around and gasp when I see that the others have been surrounded by a yellow glow. Well, to answer my earlier question, _yes_ , things _have_ gotten worse!

I watch as they chant, "Elemental powers flow, Gormiti - Lords of Nature, go! Go!" They each transform with absolutely no emotion in their voices - it was like they were robots.

They glare at me and I raise an eyebrow. "Get Toby!" they say in unison, Jessica pointing at me.

" _Eye_ like what _eye_ see!" Firespitter says gleefully. Oh great - this guy's gonna be full of _eye_ puns, isn't he?

"This just keeps getting better!" I mutter. I don't think I'd stand a chance against my friends _and_ an entire tribe of Sea Gormiti!

"Good luck, kid!" Razzle says as he jumps down from my shoulder to find a place to hide. "I'm right behind you!"

Lucas is the first to make a move. He jumps forward and lands with his fist on the ground. The ground begins to crack around my feet before brown vines wrap around my ankles and toss me, sending me flying. I let out a cry of pain as my back collides heavily with the cliff. I sink onto one knee as Lucas repeats, "Get Toby!"

I lift my head to see Nick approaching. "Nick!" I yell to him. "Snap out of it, man!" It's no use, however, as I end up having to dodge his attempts to punch me and he, instead, punches the cliff, leaving several cracks from his rock fists.

Acting quickly, I wrap my tentacles around my little brother and toss him towards the others. He crashes straight into Lucas and the two of them hit the ground hard, shaking their heads in confusion. I can't be sure but I think that they've snapped out of their trances.

I don't have time to check, though. Jessica, who had avoided the pile-up by flying up into the air, is now blasting me with a huge gust of wind. "Get Toby!" she says. I shield my eyes as the wind churns up rocks that hit me relentlessly. I hear someone approaching but the continuous assault of wind forces me to keep my eyes closed.

"Open your eyes and accept your fate!" Firespitter says before he lets out a yell. "What?" He then commands, "Get this beast off of me!"

I open my eyes and see that Lucas has his vines wrapped around Firespitter's face, blocking his eye. I pant with exhaustion as Nick approaches me. "Toby, what are _you_ doing here?" he asks, sounding surprised as he offers me his hand.

I take it and he pulls me to my feet. "Saving your butts!" I reply, grinning, too relieved that he's back to normal again.

We watch as Jessica, still in a trance, blows a powerful gust of wind at Lucas, knocking him to the ground and releasing Firespitter from the grip of his vines. I release some low-powered water globes, enough to stun but not actually harm her, and she lets out a cry as they hit her.

I raise an eyebrow as her eyes dart around, clearly trying to make sense of what just happened. Her gaze lands on me and I am happy to see the light of recognition in her eyes. "Toby?" she asks, sounding just as surprised as Nick.

Firespitter lets out a pained yell. "Sand in the eye! Destroy them! _Destroy them!_ " He then shoots fire from the holes on the ends of his fingers. Nick and I step aside to avoid the blast and watch the Sea Gormiti start charging towards us, intent on obeying Firespitter's orders.

"This could get ugly _real_ fast!" Nick says nervously. He's right - even _I_ wouldn't be reckless enough to try to take on an entire group of Gormiti at once, especially since they're probably under Firespitter's trance!

"Let's ditch 'em in the cove!" Lucas suggests and the four of us turn tail and flee as fast as we can. Partway through, I feel Razzle jump onto my shoulder and I give the little lizard a determined look. I'm glad he's okay.

"Destroy them!" Firespitter yells as he fires another attack that doesn't hit us directly but in front of us instead. The blast sends me flying and I find myself upside-down in midair, continuing to rise, despite Nick and Lucas each grabbing hold of my tentacles to try and pull me back down to the ground. We were all getting higher and higher and being upside-down was making me dizzy and confused as to how it was happening.

I manage to lift my head up enough to see that Jessica had grabbed my legs and was flying us all...somewhere. Eventually, we reach the top of the cliff and she drops us in front of a cave before landing.

"That should buy us some time!" she says, relieved before somehow folding her wings back. That's a pretty neat trick.

The four of us pant as we try to get our bearings and our breath back. I took a deep breath, relieved that all my blood was no longer rushing to my head. For now, we appear to be safe.

It seems, however, that today is _Prove Toby Wrong Day_ because, as soon as I think that, a Sea Gormiti sneaks up behind Jessica and coils his tentacle arm around her, causing her to gasp in alarm and probably for air.

Nick, Lucas and I immediately prepare to fire our attacks. "Don't even think it, boys!" the Sea Gormiti warns us. He holds up his claw arm and we all tense.

"Step down, Delos!" A female voice calls. We see a second Sea Gormiti, a darker blue than her companion, and watch as fins appear on her arms. I know her name but I can't remember it right now (AN: I've decided that, unless a Gormiti's name is directly stated in an episode, each Lord will only know the names of the Gormiti from their own tribe, with the possible exception of Nick - who knows pretty much everything). "These Gormiti resisted Firespitter's spell!" Oh, so these are good guys. I've gotta ask - why do we always seem to get attacked by the bad _and_ the good guys?

Delos releases Jessica from his grip and she walks over to join us, rubbing her arms. I figure they're probably still hurting from her having to carry us all at once.

Nick sounds relieved as he says, "I see we're not the only ones!"

Mantra - see, I knew I'd remember eventually! - sighs heavily. "It pains me to see our people being twisted to Firespitter's whim!" She then turns and heads inside the cave.

Delos makes a beckoning motion with his tentacle arm. "Come!" he says. "It is not safe in the open!" We glance at each other before following the two Sea Gormiti into the cave. We hear a rumbling sound behind us and look back to see that a heavy boulder has rolled in front of the cave entrance, Razzle only just managing to squeeze through a tiny gap and avoiding being crushed.

We stop in a room that seems to have some sort of a pool or lake. "Firespitter is searching for the lost Heart of Desire!" Mantra informs us.

"Is that like a romance novel?" Jessica asks eagerly.

"An ancient amulet of powerful magic," Delos replies. "The runes say it was lost on this very shore!"

Mantra kicks a pebble into the water. "Rumours! Stories!" she scoffs, clearly not believing that such a thing exists.

I notice Delos raise his tentacle arm over my shoulder. "You're lucky your friend came when he did," he says to the others. "Firespitter's spell was still new and weak enough to break!"

"Ha!" I say as Delos places his tentacle on my shoulder and I turn to the others. "Am I your hero or what?"

"You're _supposed_ to be our Keeper!" Jessica says, frowning.

"Yeah!" Lucas chimes in. "How do we get back without a Keeper running the Gorm Gate?" Okay, now _that_ , I hadn't thought of. Although, if truth be told, I hadn't really _thought_ at all. I had been so desperate to save everyone that I hadn't even considered what would happen once I left the Primal Pad. I had felt so good about being the hero who saved the day but now I just feel terrible!

I gasp as Nick walks over to me and begins shaking me. "How am I gonna defend my club presidency against Ike if I'm a rock man on the shores of Gorm?" he demands.

"That silly club really means a lot to you, doesn't it?" I ask as I place my hand on his shoulder. He nods in reply. "I'm not gonna let that happen - we'll think of something!" I reassure him.

"We'd better think fast!" Lucas says as we turn to look at him. "Without a Keeper to charge our orbs, we're going to run out of power soon!"

"And if we don't do something about Firespitter, then _both_ our dimensions are in trouble!" Jessica reminds us.

The four of us exchange glances before Nick says, "The runes say the amulet is on this shore. What runes?" Mantra and Delos look at each other and Delos nods.

They lead us to another room. As Delos pushes aside a boulder to allow us entry, Mantra begins explaining. "The morning Firespitter infiltrated this chamber was the beginning of the end for my people."

Just then, a ray of green light hits the walls and weird symbols appear all around, causing Razzle to gasp with awe.

Nick approaches the wall and begins running his fingers over the symbols. "I studied a tome on Narlik runes back at the Primal Pad!" he informs us.

"Why am I _not_ surprised?" Jessica asks no one in particular, vocalizing what we'd all been thinking.

"No wonder Firespitter wants the amulet!" Nick exclaims. "It's like a genie stone!"

We all gasp and I turn to Jessica and ask, "As in three wishes?" before we look over at Nick again.

"We could wish our way home!" he says.

"We could stop Firespitter!" Lucas adds.

"We could save your tribe!" Jessica suggests and Mantra nods.

Nick addresses the Sea Gormiti. "You said Firespitter was in this chamber during the morning. That means he wouldn't have _seen_ these and, without this full set of instructions, the runes would lead him to dig in the _wrong location_!" he concludes.

Mantra approaches him and places her hands on his shoulders. "If this proves true, then your archaeology skills are most impressive!"

Nick sighs before flushing with embarrassment and mumbling, "Tell that to Ike Pinkney!"

We leave the cave after Nick tells us where the _right_ location is. When we arrive, we find that the spot is in the shallow part of the water.

Nick, Lucas and I stand back while Jessica uses her wind powers to hold the water away from the ground so we can search for the amulet.

"We don't have all day!" we hear her call. "This is really taking the _wind_ outta me!"

We walk through the water to join her. "Now let's see what we can find!" Nick says before transforming his hands into drills. The drills whir as he digs into the ground for a few moments. Suddenly he stops and says, "Whoa!" staring at his hands as they go from being drills to normal, human hands. He must have run out of power!

"Oh no! Out of glow!" Lucas says as I kneel down in front of a now-human Nick, holding his arms.

"Just dig!" he insists. "We've got to find the amulet so we can get the jump on Firespitter!"

" _Eye_ wouldn't count on it!" aforementioned Gormiti says and the four of us gasp. "Now who should finish off these Gormiti pests? _Eye_ know - Helico the Wary!"

A Sea Gormiti with drills for arms leaps down towards us, spinning them at high speed. The four of us separate, Nick and I jumping to the right while Jessica and Lucas leap to the left.

"Whoa!" Nick cries suddenly and we both watch Jessica transform back into human form while in mid-air!

"Talk about lousy timing! Little help?" she yells before letting out a scream as she plummets to the ground.

"Creeper catch!" Lucas shouts as he uses his vines to, well, _catch_ her. Unfortunately, he ends up powering down too and they both grunt as she lands on top of him.

Nick turns to me suddenly, looking worried. "This isn't good!" he says.

"What do you mean?" I ask. "You guys have lost your powers, sure, but I still have mine!"

Nick shakes his head. "The water has nothing holding it up now that Jessica's lost her powers!" he reminds me. Oh. Oh, this is bad.

We hear a rumbling and look over to see Helico looming over Lucas and Jessica - who are both helpless to do anything except stand and hope for the best, cackling menacingly while spinning his drill arms.

Just then, a louder rumbling sound is heard and Helico seems confused. Suddenly, as Nick had previously predicted, the water comes crashing down and the Sea Gormiti lets out a startled yell as he is promptly swept away.

I have just enough time to grab Nick, who was holding Razzle before we are all engulfed by the huge wave. I swim after Lucas and Jessica who are being dragged away by the current. Realizing that I need to get them to the surface before they all drown, I stretch out my tentacles, grab them both by the ankles and swim up to the surface, tossing them upwards.

Knowing that they're safe, at least, for now, I dive back under the water. I see Helico rush toward the surface and I immediately give chase.

As he bursts out of the water, rotating at blinding speed, I leap up and grab onto his legs, pulling us both back underwater. I struggle to hold on as he swims further down, cackling the whole time.

I attempt repeatedly to attack or restrain him but he is spinning so fast that it's impossible to get close without risking injury.

He manages to kick me in the stomach, causing me to sink further down and when I recover, I see that Mantra and Delos have joined me. I swim up to join them but we all let out cries of shock and are forced to dodge when Helico, still cackling, attempts to divebomb us but misses, crashing into the ground instead.

I notice something glittering that floats up from the area Helico crashed into. It must be the amulet! I swim down to grab it but luck _really_ isn't on my side today!

Before I even get close to reaching the amulet, I transform back into human form, promptly struggling to breathe now that I don't have my powers. Fighting to keep my mouth closed, I head for the surface, hoping that Mantra and Delos get to the amulet before Helico does.

As I burst out of the water, I gasp for air then grin at the others who were floating near me.

Lucas informs of his plan to take Firespitter down. We watch as the water begins to bubble. "What's going on down there?" he demands to know. "I can't see anything!"

We get out of the water and I follow Lucas onto one rock while Nick and Jessica stand on another - Nick and Lucas are both holding seaweed ropes - and we wait for the perfect moment to strike.

"Kind of ironic!" Firespitter continues. "I've got this giant eye and yet _eye_ can't see! Know what _eye_ mean?" His companion - a Sea Gormiti named Crabs - simply shrugs and shakes his head in reply.

"You don't know the half of it!" Lucas says as he wraps our seaweed rope around Firespitter's face.

Nick uses his seaweed rope like a lasso and wraps it around Crabs' ankle, the Sea Gormiti saying "Uh-oh!" when he realizes what's happening.

"The bigger they are..." Jessica starts.

"...the harder they fall!" Nick finishes before we all start tugging on the ropes.

We tug harder and harder and Firespitter yells, "Never mess with-" before he and Crabs finally lose their balance and let out cries of shock as they topple into the water.

Mantra resurfaces and tosses me the object I had tried to retrieve earlier. "Someone lose their amulet?" I ask, holding it up in the air while Lucas whoo-hoos next to me.

"Alright, Toby!" Jessica cheers, hi-fiving Nick.

"Way to go, bro!" Nick says happily.

"The lost Heart of Desire!" Firespitter shouts as he clambers onto a rock. "Give it to me or I will-" he suddenly holds his hand out in my direction ready to attack, causing us all to gasp - except that all that comes out of his finger-holes is steam. "I'll-" he shakes his hand furiously before letting out a scream as the Sea Gormiti splash him with water, causing him to lose his balance and fall back in the water.

We head down to the shore and stand with Firespitter, Helico, and Crabs all tied up with seaweed. Mantra walks out of the water towards us. "Looking good, people!" Razzle says before handing over the amulet he had been holding to the Sea Gormiti.

"So the legends were true!" she says, looking down at the amulet.

"One way to find out!" I suggest.

Mantra looks back at the amulet. "I have only one wish and that is for my people to be free of Firespitter's spell!"

We watch as Helico and Crabs glow for a moment before stopping Firespitter - who had been attempting to make a sneaky getaway - in his tracks, much to his dismay.

I approach Mantra who holds the amulet out to me. "You and your friends found the lost Heart of Desire!" she tells me. "You have earned the last two wishes!"

"Sweet!" I say eagerly as I take the amulet. "I am so gonna wish for an endless supply of ice cream for the rest of my life!"

"Toby!" Jessica says behind me, frowning. She doesn't sound too amused.

"I'm kidding! I'm kidding!" I assure her. "I wish this Keeper was back where he belongs - in the Primal Pad!" I am surrounded by a glow and the next thing I know, I feel myself begin to disappear.

"Hey! What about us?" I hear Nick yell just before I disappear completely. I reappear in the Primal Pad, sitting in the Keeper's chair, the amulet still in my hand. Hmm, that gives me an idea...

"I wish that the best man for the job wins the Archaeology Club presidency debate!" I say and the amulet glows. Guess I used up the last wish!

I wave my hands over the crystals to bring the others back to the Primal Pad and watch as they come up through the Gorm Gate, saying, "By the orbs of Gorm!"

"Nice to have you back!" I greet them and raise my hand as we grin at each other.

As they run to join me, Jessica says, "We've only got one wish left!"

"We'd better make it a good one!" Lucas adds.

"Oh, I did!" I tell them.

"You already _used_ the last wish?" Nick asks before he comes closer to me. "What did you wish for?" I simply smile and drum my fingers against my arm.

We head back up into the kitchen and immediately we all notice something on the counter. "Guys, that pot wasn't there this morning, right?" Lucas asks us.

Jessica, meanwhile, says, "That's not what I _think_ it is, is it?"

Nick approaches and lifts up the pot, inspecting it from all angles. Suddenly his face lights up like a child opening a present. "I-It's a three-handled Hoachi pot! B-But how?" He frowns and turns to look at me along with Lucas and Jessica.

I give them an _I'm not saying anything_ look in return before saying, "We'd better get a move on if Nick wants to stay President!" and heading for the front door, the others following behind me. We notice as soon as we set foot outside that the sun is already starting to set.

As we get on the school campus, Nick falls into step beside me, carefully holding the pot in his arms. "Thanks, bro!" he says gratefully.

"I told you I wasn't gonna let Ike win the debate, right?" I tell him as we go inside the school. "Now get in there and show 'em what a _real_ archaeologist is made of!" He grins at me and I grin back.

Approaching the classroom where the meeting is being held, we can all hear Ike's voice droning away. "And lastly, _I_ should be president of this club because Nicholas Tripp is _never_ \- in a million years - gonna find proof of an ancient civilization like a three-handled Hoachi pot!"

"Behold!" Nick says as we walk into the classroom. "A three-handled Hoachi pot!" He lifts the pot into the air and Ike's jaw drops as the other club members start cheering. The shock ends up being too much for him because he ends up passing out but no one seems to care - everyone's eyes are on Nick, the _official_ Archaeology Club president!

Some of the members lift Nick up and the entire club runs out of the school, chanting "President Nick!" I catch a glimpse of my brother's face and know I made the right call. I've never seen him so happy.

I follow them out of the school along with Lucas and Jessica. The three of us stand just outside the school building watching as the Archaeology Club members continue to celebrate.

"Yo, man!" Lucas addresses me. "You could have wished for anything! _Anything!"_ He gives me a _what were you thinking?_ look.

I shrug and hold my hands up. "Yeah, but what could be better than that?" I ask.

"Er, hello!" Jessica exclaims and I turn to face her. She holds up a purple boot from out of nowhere. "Shoes all on sale for the rest of forever!" I chuckle and grin sheepishly at her.

"World peace!" Lucas suggests and then the two start suggesting things I could have wished for instead, my eyes darting between each of them as they speak.

"No parents in the kitchen when we're trying to get to the Primal Pad!" Jessica adds.

"No homework!" Lucas remarks.

As they continue bombarding me with suggestions, I start thinking about everything that's happened. Even though things turned out alright in the end, today was an experience I'd rather _not_ repeat!

I decide then and there that, when I inevitably get chosen to be the Keeper again, I'm just gonna suck it up and get on with it.

Sure, I may not _like_ it but it's not like I'll never have plenty of opportunities to kick the Lava Gormiti's butts!

* * *

 _AN: That's the end of the chapter! Sorry it took so long - I did mean to have it up last night but I ended up falling asleep :-( The good news is, I've already started the next chapter due to my writing two chapters at once plan (I write the first 1K words of the next chapter before focusing my attention on the main one). Hope you guys enjoyed it and see you next time! :-)_


	7. Chapter 6 - Tidal Wave Goodbye

_AN: Hey, guys! Glad to see you back for another chapter! I'll try to update as often as I can but I'm aiming to finish crocheting my sister's scarf by Christmas so that's kinda my priority right now._

 _Oh, and this is where the Toby side to BlizzardStormshipping (aka Toby/Jessica) sorta starts, I guess, for anyone who's interested? Bear in mind that Toby is gonna be in denial for a while (ha, that rhymed!) :-)_

 _Enjoy the chapter_

~••~

* * *

I am wearing my judo uniform while sitting on a bench inside the gymnasium. I was participating in the annual judo tournament that takes place on the same day every year.

I finger the orange belt wrapped around my judogi (AN: I had to look that up to know what it was called - I seriously know nothing about judo!). I was pretty confident I could win this tournament - I've been taking classes since I was five, after all. There's just no way I'm gonna lose!

I look up as Nick, who was closely observing the current match, turns to address me. "Okay, you gotta hit this guy hard and fast! He's quick with the roundhouse but his upper body is weak!"

"Yeah, yeah..." I say, only half paying attention. I hear a familiar voice and we gasp as we look over to our left.

"Come on, Jessica! Put on a hairlock!" Gina says encouragingly to Jessica who was sitting on the bench wearing the exact same uniform I was. Wait! Since when does Jessica even _do_ judo? I've never seen her in any of my classes!

Nick and I, along with Lucas, gasp in surprise, none of us really knowing what's going on right now. "Gina, I don't think there's such a thing as a _hair_ lock!" Jessica says.

Gina is not deterred by this in the slightest as she excitedly says, " _So?_ Make one up! It can be your signature move!"

"Uh, Jessica, what are you doing?" Nick asks, confused. That's what _I'd_ like to know!

Much to our shock, Gina snaps, "None of your business!"

Jessica looks a little uncomfortable as she holds her hand up and states, "It's no big deal, Gina!" She stands up and declares, "I'm in the judo tournament! I'm competing in my _own_ division!"

I can't resist the urge to tease her so I ask snarkily, "What division is that - the _amateur's_ division?" causing Nick and Lucas to laugh. I laugh along with them as the girls narrow their eyes at me.

"The _girl's_ division is just as competitive as the _guy's_!" Jessica says through gritted teeth, her hands balling into fists by her sides as she glares at me. She's definitely mad at me and, for some reason, I find it kind of ador - wait, don't go there, Toby! Do _not_ go there!

"Is that so?" I ask, in an attempt to make her even madder to distract myself from the weird thought I _almost_ had. I grin and add, "Well, it doesn't really matter 'cos in this sport, style counts for points and points count for style!" I turn on my heel and walk away to get ready for my first match.

I hear her say, "We'll see whose points count!" and I have to try not to laugh. She seriously thinks she can beat me? Boy, is she in for a surprise!

I stand on a mat with my opponent as we bow to the referee then turn and bow to each other. The whistle blows and the match begins.

Immediately we grab each other by our judogi's, both of us looking for an opportunity to make our move. "You're doing good, Toby!" Lucas calls encouragingly. "Keep on him!"

Meanwhile, I hear Gina yelling in support of Jessica. "That's it, Jessica! Make her feel your wrestling wrath!"

"Watch the body, watch the body!" Nick yells to me as I use my foot to bring my opponent to the floor and hold him down. The whistle blows, indicating that the match is over.

I turn to watch the match between Jessica and her opponent. Now that I've won _my_ first match, I, at least, want her to win _hers!_

In an impressive move, she tosses her opponent over her, causing the dark-haired girl to land on her back with a pained grunt. Once more, the whistle blows. Okay, I admit it - she's not as bad as I thought she was gonna be but there's no way I'm telling her that!

I walk over to stand near Nick and Lucas as they cheer, feeling pretty confident. "Look, the scores are being posted right now!" Nick points out excitedly.

I look at my image on the scoreboard and see that I have 121 points. Nice! "Yep! Pretty much what I expected!" I say casually.

"Check it out, girl!" Gina suddenly exclaims. "You did better than Toby!" Wait, what? I look at the scoreboard and see to my shock that Jessica got 12 _2_ points. One point. She beat me by _one point._

Jessica hi-fives Gina as they start cheering and pumping their fists in the air. I sweatdrop as it hits me that she actually _beat_ me. How?

"Dude, you were beaten by a _girl!_ " Nick says, amused, as Lucas laughs, giving me a double thumbs-up.

"Nice one!" he adds.

I struggle to come up with a response as I'm still trying to process what's actually happened. "What's that you said again?" Jessica asks sweetly and I gasp as she adds, "Oh, yeah! Style counts for points..."

"...and points count for style!" Gina finishes as she flicks her dark hair.

"Yes!" They exclaim together, exchanging another hi-five. I narrow my eyes at them - they're completely humiliating me here!

"Speaking of style," Jessica says as she turns to address Gina. "Next round isn't 'til this afternoon. I think a celebration is in order!"

There was a pause before they both say cheerfully, "New shoes!"

"Don't you own _enough_ shoes?" Lucas asks, mystified.

"You can _never_ own enough shoes!" Jessica replies.

Gina seems to go into flirt mode as she adds, "Besides you always wanna look your best just in case you see that tough, special someone!" She flutters her eyelashes all the while but Lucas just looks plain confused as to why she's acting like that.

"Yeah, yeah," Jessica says impatiently as she starts pushing Gina towards the exit. "The mall calls!"

" _And so does the Gorm!"_

We all turn at the sound of the familiar voice and see Razzle casually sitting on the bench. Nick, upon seeing the green lizard, screams with shock, a gesture that Razzle reciprocates.

"What was that?" Gina asks from behind Jessica who keeps moving to try to stop Gina from seeing Razzle. Laughing nervously, Nick, Lucas and I squash up together in front of Razzle to block him from view.

"Uh, I totally forgot - I'm busy!" Jessica says apologetically, rubbing the back of her head.

"Is everything okay?" Gina asks with concern as Jessica starts pushing her towards the exit once more.

"Yes!" Jessica replies a little too quickly. "Sorry, I'll...catch up with you later!" she adds as she pushes Gina through the doors then leans against them when they close, letting out a sigh of relief.

I grab my backpack off the bench and unzip it while saying, "Quick, Razzle, in here!"

The lizard complies and jumps into my backpack but almost immediately he looks like he wants to throw up. "This thing smells worse than a Lava Gormiti's sulfur bath!" he complains.

"Not surprising!" Jessica says while I zip up my backpack, still leaning against the doors. "It's Toby's!" Nick and Lucas start laughing as they start walking towards the exit while I stand still for a moment.

"Ha ha!" I say dryly before following them. It hadn't been _that_ funny!

After Jessica and I got changed into our everyday clothes, the four of us left the gym and started heading for home.

"What's the news, Razzle?" I ask the lizard, knowing that he must be here for a reason.

"You mean, aside from a tidal wave nearly destroying the Venture Falls marina?" he responds.

Nearly destroying the... I freeze before yelling "What?", the others echoing just seconds later.

I unzip my backpack and Razzle pokes his head out, gasping. "Relax, nobody was hurt...this time," he says, though the last part sounds kinda ominous to me.

Lucas looks thoughtful. "Obviously a Gorm connection!" he says, frowning. "Let's hit the Primal Pad for the full rundown!"

Razzle holds up one of my old socks as he adds, "and some fresh air!" He groans and falls backward into the compartment.

As soon as we get home, the four of us run to the pantry, closing the doors behind us. We slide our hands across the panel in order to gain access to the Primal Pad.

We walk over to the control panel and look up at the screen as Razzle begins explaining. "Terrible powers are being unleashed in Gorm causing dimensional ripples that made that tidal wave!" As he speaks, the image on the screen shows explosions in a rocky area of Gorm.

"Lava Gormiti?" Lucas guesses.

"Can't say for sure!" Razzle answers. "There's some sort of secret gathering in Corinthian Canyon!" He looks at us. "Your mission - bust this gathering before the next tidal wave wipes out Venture Falls completely!"

We run to stand around the Gorm Gate and together we say, "Elementals!"

"Air!" Jessica cries.

"Water!" I yell.

"Forest!" Lucas shouts.

"Earth!" Nick finishes.

As one, we chant, "Reveal to us the Keeper and give to them your chair!"

The chair begins to spin around at high speed before coming to a stop. "And the keeper is..." Razzle says before a light-blue icon with the Air symbol appears on the back of the chair. "...Air!"

"Wow, can you believe it?" Jessica says enthusiastically before turning to look at me and saying smugly "Not only do I score more points than you at the judo tournament," she then turns and starts walking up the steps to the Keeper's chair, "but I've been chosen to be the Keeper _yet again!"_

I frown. Being chosen as the Keeper would only be a reason to be smug if _I_ had wanted to be the Keeper...which I didn't so, ha! Lucas and Nick snigger and I feel Lucas' hand on my shoulder. "Yeah?" I say, wanting to retaliate. "Well, points don't count where we're going!" Try and beat that!

"Then you're the perfect man for the job!" she replies without missing a beat as she slides the crystals around.

This is ridiculous! How can she throw back my witty comments with something even wittier? Why am I kind of im - no, don't think that, Toby! I decide to jump through the Gorm Gate before she embarrasses me - wait, embarrassed, _I'm_ not embarrassed one bit! - again. Just as I jump in, I hear Nick say, "She's got a _point_ , you know!"

We land in what I assume is that canyon place Razzle mentioned before - that Corinth-y place. Yeah. Only there seems to be more than one path. "Which way do we go?" I ask.

"I'm not sure," Nick replies.

"The location is _secret_ ," Razzle informs us as we turn to look at him. "Maybe Keeper Jessica can provide some assistance?"

Jessica's image is projected, showing her holding an open book. "I'm...still looking," she tells us.

"Yeah, through a _fashion magazine!_ " I say, frowning.

"Ooh, two points for being witty!" she retorts before smirking. "Too bad you can't use _that_ in judo!"

"She's got a point, you know!" Lucas says to me. " _Another_ point, that is!" He and Nick start laughing at their running joke that wasn't even funny in the first place.

I kneel down and pick up a small pebble. "So funny I forgot to _laugh_!" I say through gritted teeth before frustratedly throwing it down one of the paths.

To my surprise, I hear an "Ow!" Guess I must have hit somebody. The three of us gasp nervously, not knowing who we may be about to face.

"What's that?" Nick asks.

A familiar Lava Gormiti comes into view, rubbing his volcano-shaped head. "It's Lavor!" Nick answers his own question. "And he's brought some friends!" he adds as Lavor is joined by a group of Lava soldiers.

"Quite a few friends, actually!" Lucas points out as the Lava soldiers cackle menacingly.

The Lava Gormiti continue moving forward. With a rock wall behind us, we have nowhere to run. "They must be the ones behind the disturbance!" I guess.

Jessica was ready for us. "You're good to glow!" she says.

The three of us begin to chant, "Elemental powers flow, Gormiti - Lords of Nature, go!"

As I transform, I cry out, "Powers of the Sea!" before letting out a roar. Once we've all transformed, we gaze challengingly at our opponents. "Bring it on!" I say confidently.

Some Lava soldiers start charging towards us and Nick runs forward before transforming his right hand into a hammer and slamming it onto the ground, causing it to crack open and send two Lava soldiers flying.

The other two continue advancing towards Lucas and I and they both shoot fire blasts at us. We both dodge before Lucas shoots out his fists with vines attached, grabbing the Lava Gormiti and slamming them to the ground.

Lavor looks menacingly at me. Well, now it's my turn. I roar before releasing a blast of water from my stomach, sending one of the Lava Soldiers flying over his head.

"Nice little trick, lad!" the volcano-headed Gormiti booms, "but, here, try some of _mine_!" He opens up a small crack in the ground and fires bursts of lava at me. I use all the agility I have to try and dodge but, after successfully evading the first three blasts, the fourth hit me in the chest, sending me backward with a cry of pain. I kneel on all fours as I try to recover.

"Watch out, bro!" Nick warns me. The three of us watch as at least seven Lava soldiers start charging towards us.

"We have to retreat!" Lucas tells us. "There's too many of them!"

Give up? To the Lava Gormiti? Not a chance! "No way!" I decline. "We can take 'em!"

Lucas grabs two of the Lava soldiers with his vines and tosses them before saying, "No, we can't! Jessica, which way do we go?"

"Hang on, I just about...got it!" Jessica replies from inside the Primal Pad.

"Jessica, we _really need_ you!" Nick points out while trying to keep the Lava soldiers at a distance.

"Uh, I _know_! Give me a second!" She _does_ realize we're in the middle of a battle here, right?

"Jessica!" Nick yells while tossing a Lava soldier into two others, knocking all three of them down.

"She's probably putting on lipstick!" I say irritatedly before I notice Lavor fire another two lava blasts from the crack in the ground. I dodge the first and transform my right hand into a claw in order to intercept the second.

"Jessica!" Nick yells again, but she seems to be taking her time.

"I'm on my-" she lets out a yell. What on earth is she even doing in there? It can't be _that_ hard to find a map or whatever, surely!

The Lava soldiers approach us and, when Nick nervously calls for Jessica again, he gets no response. Typical. Lavor laughs as he walks towards us. "Let me guess - on the way to the secret tournament?"

Well, I presume we're supposed to be - which means that we have to stop these guys and their pals at that tournament! "No secret is safe from us!" I say. "When we're through with you, we're gonna find this secret place and take care of your friends as well!"

"My friends?" Lavor asks, confused. "Uh - Oh yes - my _friends_

"Insolent whel-" one of the Lava soldiers says, moving forwards but they are stopped by Lavor.

"Well done, well done!" he says, to my surprise. "But, you see, the lad has insulted me so I take this challenge _personally!"_ He looks directly at me. "Come on, let's have a go at it! Give him your best shot! He's ready!" Wow, you don't hear _that_ every day!

"But, sir..." the Lava soldier protests, only for Lavor to ignore him.

"Go on, give him everything you've got!" he commands. This is, by far, the weirdest situation I've ever been in!

"Your power orb!" Lucas whispers to me worriedly. "It must be nearly depleted!"

"A little is all I need to take down this chump!" I reply before releasing a blast of water from my stomach. It hits the Lava soldier and sends him flying. Down and out.

"Nice shot!" Lavor says. "You and your warrior friends are...free to go!" What - just like that? This _is_ weird! "Well, go on! Make room for them!" The Lava Gormiti nervously scramble backwards to clear a path for us.

"Wow!" Nick says, clearly as confused as I am about this situation. "You don't see _this_ very often!"

"Let's just go!" Lucas tells us and we walk through the path provided for us.

As we head away from Lavor and his Lava soldiers, Jessica _finally_ gets back in contact with us. "Sorry, guys, I'm back!" she says apologetically.

"Better late than never, eh, Jess?" I say.

"Do you want me to bring you back or not?" she asks.

"Now you're talking!" I reply, hoping she doesn't make a mess of trying to gate us back to Earth.

Luckily, for us, she gates us back to the Primal Pad without taking _forever_ about it. She lowers the chair down, rubbing the back of her head, as Lucas walks towards her. "Jessica, what happened?" he asks her.

"Wait!" she cries out, holding out her hand. Lucas lets out a cry as he slips on something and falls, hitting his head.

I walk up to her, frowning. "What's going on? Where _were_ you?" I ask.

Jessica grins sheepishly. "I was reaching for the silly direction scroll when my bracelet got caught on the shelf and-"

I laugh shortly, unamused. "You mean to tell me that we almost lost a battle because of your _bracelet?"_ She scowls at me before I turn away from her. I hold up two fingers and grin as I happily announce, "Minus two points for being _fashionable!"_

Lucas rubs his head, still lying on the floor. "Yeah, and minus two more points for this bump on my head!" he adds.

Suddenly Jessica's phone starts ringing. "Gina?" she says, answering it. "What!" she cries before saying, "Okay, we're on our way!" and ending the call. "The second round of matches is about to start!" she tells us.

"We've gotta go!" Nick says and the four of us run upstairs and leave the house, heading back to the school gym.

After I come out of the boys' changing room, tying the orange obi around myself, I spot an opportunity to ask Jessica something as I see her coming out of the girls' changing room. I walk over to her and tap her shoulder. "So how long have you even been doing judo?" I ask because I'm genuinely curious.

She pauses in the middle of tying her own obi and replies, "As long as _you_ have." What? That makes no sense - I would have _seen_ her!

When we reach the gym, I decide to put it out of my mind for now. I glance competitively at Jessica who returns the gesture as we finish getting ready. "What took you guys so long - I was starting to get worried!" Gina asks us before gasping. Guess she just spotted Lucas. "What happened to your head?" she queries in concern.

"Long story" he replies. Jessica and Gina away and I start warming up in preparation for my next match. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Jessica applying make-up while Gina helpfully holds up a compact mirror. _Seriously?_ The second round is about to start any minute now and she's worried about her _make-up?_ She doesn't even _need_ it to look pretty!

As soon as I register that yes, I _did_ just think that, I mentally hit myself. She's my _friend_ \- why does my brain not seem to be getting that? I can't have _those_ sorts of thoughts about her - I thought I'd gotten over that _tiny_ crush I had on her...when we were five but apparently, my mind seems to believe otherwise. I guess if I ignore them, it'll go away, right? _Right?_

I glance over at her once more, hating how she has gained the ability to turn my brain into mush without even doing or saying anything. "We'll see who gets the most points this time!" I mutter, doing my best to focus on my need to beat her this time around.

Our matches go the same way as before. We both defeat our opponents using the same techniques we used in the first round. The referee blows the whistle to signal the end of the match.

I glance at the scoreboard and see that I have earned a hundred points, bringing my total to 221. Unfortunately, so did Jessica, which means she's _still_ one point ahead of me.

"Looks like I made my points back!" she says smugly.

I walk over to her. "Don't worry," I tell her as she yawns with boredom. "I'll get my points!" I was _not_ going to lose this - I _can't_ lose this!

" _May I_ point _you in the right direction?_ "

Gina spins around, looking both left and right frantically. "Who said that?" she asks, not knowing that the culprit was actually a small talking lizard. Jessica and I frantically wave at Nick and Lucas from behind her to get them to come up with an excuse.

"Uh, me!" Lucas says and she immediately looks at him. He thinks for a moment then adds, "I mean - may I point you in the right direction to find the drink machine?"

"What?" Gina asks incredulously.

Lucas walks forward and takes her arm, much to our surprise. When he speaks, he has a fake rasp to his voice. "Could you get me a bottled water, please? Thirsty!" he asks, pointing to his throat.

I'm pretty sure if anyone else asked her that, she wouldn't have accepted so easily but _Lucas_ was the one asking and we _all_ know she'd do anything for him. "Sure, Lucas!" she says, letting out a giggle before walking away, fluttering her eyelashes at him all the while.

Once she's out of sight, Lucas breathes a sigh of relief before glancing at us and shrugging. His eyes seem to be saying _look, I did it!_ and _I'm so confused right now!_ I doubt the poor guy will ever understand why Gina acts the way she does around him - I'm just glad no one acts that way around _me!_

Jessica looks at me and I give her a confused look before she holds up my backpack. I like the way she thinks! We both smile at a blissfully unaware Razzle before we each take a hold of my backpack. Razzle gulps as we loom over him and lets out a scream as we force him into the backpack once more.

Once we get back to the Primal Pad, Razzle immediately jumps out of my backpack and shoots Jessica and I a _why would you do that to me?_ look. We simply grin innocently at him in return and he huffs before speaking. "Look, I think I know what this secret gathering is all about!" he begins as we listen closely. "Lavor said something about a tournament."

"So?" Lucas says, not getting what Razzle is saying but, then again, neither am I.

"So...Every year, in Gorm, Gormiti warriors gather to demonstrate their great powers in various competitions," Razzle explains.

"I don't get it!" Nick says, puzzled. "If it happens every year, why is it only affecting Venture Falls now?"

"Well, that's the thing," Razzle answers as he jumps up onto the control panel. The screen shows some place in Gorm that looks pretty empty. "It's always been held in the tournament halls of Kurgard but now it's time for the tournament and the halls are empty!"

"And you think it's been moved to a secret location!" Nick guesses.

"A location that's causing the tidal waves!" Jessica adds, holding up a scroll as she balances on the ladder.

"Precisely!" Razzle says.

"But why?" Lucas asks, vocalizing my exact thoughts.

"That's for you guys to figure out!" Razzle replies as he jumps back onto the control panel, the screen now showing an image of Gorm. "And fast before the start of the second round!"

Jessica climbs down the ladder and hands the scroll to Nick. "Here, this should narrow down your search!" she says.

"Ah, Direction Scroll!" Nick says. Wasn't that what she was looking for earlier? At least she didn't accidentally concuss anyone this time! "For a certain tournament, I suppose?" he asks and she nods.

Nick, Lucas and I jump back through the Gorm Gate and, once again, we land in that canyon place. Lucas and I look at Nick who unrolls the Direction Scroll before inspecting it closely. "So which way do we go?" I ask him.

Nick looks at the scroll again. "Easy!" he replies. "We go for the gold! ' _For those who wish to find the tourney, let this arrow guide the journey!'_ " He peeks out from behind the scroll, looking confused when nothing happens. Suddenly he gasps as the scroll glows before yelping as it rolls itself up and disappears, only to be replaced with a streak of shimmering, golden light.

We gasp as it whooshes past us and walk to the edge of the ledge to see the trail head down the middle of three forks. "Come on! After that thing!" Lucas says and we start chasing the golden trail.

"Hurry up! It went this way!" I yell to the others. Man, it's hard to keep track of this thing! It almost reminds me of when Geo was a puppy and Nick and I had to help Mom and Dad spend hours trying to track him down in the house as he was pretty hyper and had an inability to stay still in one place for any amount of time.

We continue to follow the trail as Nick says, "See? The golden trail will lead us right to the tournament!" Unfortunately, after a while, the trail seems to have gotten all mixed up and we stop, now unsure of which way to go.

"Which way?" Lucas asks.

I look around before finding the trail. "Look!" I tell them. I point it out and together we look down to where the trail is leading.

"Wow!" Nick says in a hushed voice, clearly impressed.

Jessica projects her image between Nick and I. "Uh, guys? Venture Falls isn't the only strange tidal wave in the last twenty-four hours!" she informs us. "According to crystal readings, the tidal waves are due to interdimensional energy holes scattering out across the globe! I don't know why one silly Gorm tourney would have this effect but if you don't stop it fast, we could have a global catastrophe on our hands!"

"We read you loud and clear, Jess!" Lucas tells her and her image disappears.

We look down again and see three Gormiti - one from the Earth, Water and Forest tribes - presumably warming up for the tournament. All three of them are clad in armor but I manage to recognize the Sea Gormiti as Hammer, one of the most powerful warriors of the Sea Nation. He lets out a cry as he strikes the ground with a trident. "Whoa, this must be the place," I say in awe.

Nick walks over to a small rock and blows the dust away before saying, "Astreeg? No, wait, _Astreg!_ What does Astreg mean?" he asks us.

Lucas and I shrug, neither of us having a clue. "Could be important!" Jessica answers from the Primal Pad. "I'm on it!"

We watch as the three Gormiti move in closer. "No time for that!" I say. "The tournament's second round is about to begin and we need to stop them!"

"You're good to glow!" Jessica informs us.

We raise our right hands in the air as we chant, "Elemental powers flow, Gormiti - Lords of Nature, go!"

"Powers of the Sea!" I cry as I transform again, letting out a fierce roar.

Once we're all transformed, we watch as the Gormiti start to charge towards each other, prepared to battle. Just as they were about to start fighting, Lucas jumps down, landing in the middle of the triangle the three Gormiti have formed. Nick and I quickly follow suit and Lucas, holding up his hand, yells, "Stop!"

The Gormiti stop running and come to a halt, clearly confused. "Intruders!" The Forest Gormiti says angrily. "How did you find this place?"

"That doesn't matter now!" Nick answers. "The tournament _cannot_ continue!" Why do I get the feeling these guys probably aren't going to like this?

"Your battles are causing a cosmic imbalance!" Lucas explains. "We're talking tidal waves and who knows what else in our dimension!"

The Earth Gormiti steps forward. "Ah, who are _these_ to challenge the tournament?" He spins his hammer around menacingly. "Perhaps they should be made an example of!" he suggests.

We bunch up together as the Gormiti advance towards us. "Jessica?" Lucas calls out nervously.

The Gormiti are almost in attacking distance when Jessica suddenly projects her image beside us. "It's not the tournament that's the problem - it's the _location!"_ she explains.

The Earth Gormiti lets out a startled cry. "What manner of magic is _this?"_ he asks, pointing at Jessica.

"In ancient times, the Battle Plain of Astreg hosted all the important Gormiti tournaments!" Jessica continues. "But the magic battles caused a weakness in the dimensional fabric of Astreg!"

"So new battles on that old weakness stirred up the tidal waves in Venture Falls!" Lucas exclaims.

"Bingo!" Jessica confirms. "That's the kind of trouble the ancients were trying to avoid when they built the newer tournament halls of Kurgard!"

The three Gormiti look around the arena before the Earth Gormiti sheepishly rubs the back of his head. They then move back and the three of us relax, realizing that they no longer see us as a threat.

"We have to hold our tournaments in secret from the evil Lord Magmion but he found us in Kurgard last year so we had to find a new location." The Earth Gormiti explains.

The Forest Gormiti adds. "This year, the secret location was here in Astreg!"

"Yeah, well, your secret might not be a secret much longer!" I warn them. "Lavor's on the loose!"

"Then we must postpone our sport until it is safe!" the Forest Gormiti decides before touching the ground with his wooden spear-like weapon. "No battles shall take place here today!"

"On the contrary," a mysterious voice says and the shadow of a huge Gormiti falls over us. We turn to see Magmion himself along with a few Lava soldiers standing on the cliff, leering down at us. The reptilian Gormiti was covered in black and red armor. "I most certainly wager that there _will_ be battle today - a great and most terrible battle!" He laughs menacingly as dark clouds move in overhead and lightning flashes. "You think you can hide your tournament from me?" We gasp as we see the Lava soldiers running down to the arena, towards us!

For some reason, a glow surrounds Nick, Lucas, and I. I have no idea what is happening but the glow transforms into a purple beam of light that shoots up into the sky.

"This battle needs to stop immediately!" Jessica yells. "It's causing a global power surge!"

I use my tentacles to slam two Lava Gormiti into each other, knocking them out before muttering, "Easy for _you_ to say!"

The Lava soldiers start charging towards the three Gormiti who use their skills in combat to handily defeat them in next to no time at all.

After the Earth Gormiti takes out Lavor with an impressive swing of his hammer, he stands up and says, "These puny Lava Gormiti are no match for us tournament players!"

Magmion lets out a cry before jumping down into the arena. "Ah, but _I'm_ not so easily vanquished!" he warns. With a powerful sweep of his huge tail, he knocks all three of the Gormiti off their feet. All three of them grunt as they hit the ground.

"He's too strong!" Nick says desperately as we run over to the Gormiti to help them up.

"We have to try!" Lucas says, looking determined.

I help the Earth Gormiti to his feet and the six of us watch as Magmion moves to stand menacingly before us.

For a while, we just stand before I say, "Let's do this!" We charge forwards, the three Gormiti heading right while Nick, Lucas and I head left.

The Earth Gormiti throws his hammer at Magmion but it disintegrates upon hitting the armor. Hammer throws his trident and the Forest Gormiti stretches out his vine-like arm but Magmion grabs hold of it and tosses him, sending him flying along with the others. The trident, just like the hammer, also breaks apart when it makes contact with the armor.

Magmion then turns his attention to us. I release a jet of water from my stomach at the same time that Nick and Lucas are launching their own attacks. None of them land, though. With another sweep of his tail, the three of us grunt as we are swept off our feet. Poor Lucas ends up with the misfortune of having both Nick and I piled on top of him.

"You have to stop this fighting!" Jessica tells us. How exactly does she expect us to do that? We can't _not_ defend ourselves!

"But how?" Lucas asks her while holding me up. "See how his armor protects him? Nobody can _touch_ him!" Oh yeah, there's also _that!_

After a few moments, Jessica projects her image next to me. "Look at his feet!" she tells us. That has to be the _weirdest_ thing she's ever said without a doubt. What do Magmion's _feet_ have to do with anything?

I hold up two fingers. "Minus two points for not _having a point!"_ I say, not getting what she's getting at.

"Listen to me!" she snaps frustratedly, holding up a book showing a picture of Magmion. "His heels - they're exposed! His heels are the _only_ part of his body _not_ covered in armor!"

"She's right!" Nick says, pointing at Magmion's feet. "Look!" Sure enough, just as Jessica had said, Magmion's heels _didn't_ have any armor - and I...had a plan!

"You two create a diversion," I tell Nick and Lucas as I put my hands on their shoulders. "I'll sneak up behind him with a surprise attack!" I leave them to find a place to hide so I can wait for the perfect moment to strike.

"Diversion?" They echo.

"Once I've defeated the most powerful warriors of your silly tribes, then the rest of your people will bow down to me!" Magmion says after a skirmish with the Earth Gormiti.

"Ladies and gentle-Gormiti," Lucas announces suddenly, much to their confusion. "May I introduce to you the most amazing, uh, feat of balance and coordination ever displayed in the ancient Coliseum of Astreg!" He holds his arms out. "He's...Nick!"

To my amusement, I see Nick juggling three large boulders like they weighed nothing at all and, to him, they probably didn't.

None of the Gormiti seem to know what to make of it. I have to resist the urge to laugh when I see the awed expressions on the faces of the Lava soldiers. "Okay!" Nick calls. "I'm ready for another!"

Lucas uses his vines to toss a fourth boulder into the mix and Nick increases the speed of his juggling with the three boulders. Lavor laughs and claps his hands like a small child.

Magmion looks confused but I spot a rock big enough to conceal myself behind that's close enough to allow me to sneak up on him undetected. I quickly hide behind it, with nobody noticing.

I hear several grunts and thuds. Guess the entertainment part's over and done with! I see Magmion raise his blade-like arm over the Earth Gormiti. "Show's over!" he says menacingly. You got that one right, Magmy!

I leap out from behind the rock and transform my left hand into a giant claw before quickly pinching Magmion's heel, causing him to let out a huge cry of pain. He falls on top of Lavor who helps him to his feet and we watch as they leave, Magmion hopping on one foot and Lavor supporting him. "Watch where you're going, you clumsy oaf!" Magmion snaps. "Can't you see I'm hurt?"

"Well, seeing as how I took down Magmion, I guess that makes me the winner of the tournament!" I say happily. The others stare at me blankly and Jessica sighs heavily. I ignore them and walk over to the trio of Gormiti. "So what do I get?" I ask them.

"Congratulations, warrior," the Forest Gormiti says, bringing something from behind his back. As he walks towards me, I hold out my hands expectantly but, to my surprise, he walks right past me.

I turn my head and watch as he places whatever it is below Jessica's flickering image. "Your quick thinking championed this day!"

This is so unfair! First the judo tournament and now this! How does she keep beating me? I try to say something but I'm too shocked to speak. "Don't worry, Toby!" Jessica tells me, happily. "I'll let you play with it!"

"Ooh, burn!" Lucas says before he and Nick start laughing again. I _still_ don't find it funny.

"Very funny, guys!" I mutter. "Very funny!"

We head back to the gym for the results of the tournament after being gated back to the Primal Pad. Jessica and I got changed into our judo uniforms and waited with the other competitors in the stands for the referee to announce the winners.

"And the winners of both the male and female divisions...Jeff Adbeck and Morgan Miles!" the referee says as the winners walk up to him and he holds their arms up in the air, "who each managed to edge out their closest competition by only one point!"

I was really getting sick of hearing the words _one point._ "One lousy point!" I say disappointedly.

"That should _so_ be us up there right now!" Jessica adds miserably.

"Well, winning isn't everything, right?" Nick tells us cheerfully.

"Yeah, at least we saved the world from certain disaster!" Lucas reminds us.

"You know what?" Jessica says to me. "They're right!" I frown, knowing that they're all right but it doesn't make it any less annoying - all that effort and neither of us won. Guess being overly competitive won't get you anywhere.

I stand up. "Truce?" I say, holding my hand out to her. Now that the competition's over and done with, I want my best friend back. I've had enough of trying to one-up her.

"Shoes!" Jessica says cheerfully as she stands up before linking arms with Gina and the two of them walk off, giggling. I stare after them blankly, not really having a clue what to say. As they leave, Jessica turns her head and winks at me. I know then that things are back to normal, yet they don't quite feel that way.

My heart feels like it's beating a tiny bit faster than usual and I still have no idea _why._ I don't have a clue why these things are happening _now_. Something tells me I can't just ignore...whatever _this_ is like I did before. One thing I know, for sure, as I mutter, "Pfft, girls!" and shrug, is that girls are the most confusing beings on the planet. Another thing is that things are changing and I'm not yet sure if I'll ever be ready to deal with it.

I wouldn't have to worry about it, though. After all, it's not like I _like_ her or anything, right?

* * *

 _AN: So sorry this is late. I hope you guys enjoyed reading. Poor Toby's gonna be in denial for a few chapters. I've decided to scrap the once-a-week system for my updates in favor of updating as and when I have the time. Apologies for the inconvenience but I'm a carer for my mum so I don't exactly have a lot of spare time on my hands. Hope you all understand and I'll see you in the next chapter!_

 _If you guys have any questions about this fic or anything related to my Gormiti headcanons, the links to my social media can be found in my profile. So tweet, DM or send an ask and I'll do my best to answer! Thank you :-) You guys are all awesome!_


	8. Chapter 7 - Curse of the Crown

_AN: Hey, guys! Welcome back to ROTLON :-) This chapter's gonna be so weird to write since Toby spends most of the episode not exactly being himself. Hopefully, the key below will help you understand._

 _Key:_

words = Toby's POV

 **words** = Toby's POV while possessed (in other words, Obscurio!Toby's POV)

 _words_ = Toby's inner conscience

 ** _words_** = Obscurio's inner conscience

~••~

* * *

The middle of winter in Venture Falls meant that every student in Venture Falls Junior High - Nick, Lucas and I, included - was clad in warm, winter clothing. I, myself, am wearing my blue, white and orange winter jacket.

At the moment, the three of us are standing near our lockers while I attempt to prise mine open. The lock's always been pretty stubborn but I usually manage to open it anyways.

"A raffle to help the school hockey team get new duds is a great idea!" Lucas says as I continue wrestling with my locker.

"So whoever sells the most tickets gets to design the new uniforms?" Nick asks as I _finally_ manage to prise open the locker door. Ha! Toby - one, locker door - nil!

"Yep!" I reply. "And that person's gonna be _me!_ Look at how many raffle tickets I've sold already!" I hold up a sack full of raffle tickets as I add, "There's no way I'm gonna lose!"

"Hey!" Jessica greets us, as she walks over, holding up her own sack. "Anybody wanna buy a ticket?"

I blink and then blink some more as the confident smile gets wiped from my face at the number of tickets she's sold compared to me, to be replaced with a _how has she sold so many already?_ look.

"Whoa, Toby!" Lucas exclaims. "She's sold _way_ more tickets than you!" Yeah, tell me something I don't know! Seriously, when did she start selling her tickets? At dawn?

"Hey, girls! Wait up!" Jessica suddenly calls to some fellow classmates as she walks over to join them. "Are you interested in buying some tickets?"

"The odds of winning are clearly _not_ in your favor!" Nick oh-so-helpfully points out as I narrow my eyes.

"Dude, it _can't_ be done!" Lucas tells me.

I was _not_ losing to Jessica. Not again. I mean, technically we both lost the judo tournament but she rubbed her higher score in my face for about a week! It was totally frustrating! There was more at stake than just my pride this time - I _had_ to win this! I just _had_ to! "It _must_ be done!" I say.

After the lessons of the day are over, the four of us start walking home, trudging through the slushy snow. "Have you noticed the accelerated melting speed of the snow around here?" Nick asks us.

"Yeah, it's really unnatural for the middle of winter!" Jessica replies.

"And _that's_ unnatural on _so_ many levels!" I say as Ike Pinkney walks past us in a pink Hawaiian shirt with blue flowers and white shorts. In two words - _summer clothes!_

 _"But I'm still listening!"_

We see Razzle peeping out from underneath the hat of a snowman and Lucas, who is the closest, screams in shock.

"Razzle!" Jessica, Nick and I exclaim happily.

"Sorry to intrude," the lizard says as he climbs on top of the snowman's hat, "but-"

"The strange weather we're experiencing means something's going on in Gorm, got ya!" Nick interrupts.

"And we need to go to the Primal Pad for our briefing!" Jessica finishes and the four of us start running to get home faster.

Once we get home, we head straight down to the Primal Pad after hanging up our coats in the hall and activating the panel in the pantry. As usual, we stand in front of the control panel and the screen seems to be focusing on the Fire Nation as Razzle begins explaining.

"The source of the intense heat is coming from the Cavern of Obscurio in the Fire Gormiti Nation!" The screen shows an image of an unfamiliar Lava Gormiti using some kind of trident to blast apart the rock wall before them. "That's Orrore, a Fire Gormiti, trying to break into the cavern!" We watch as this Orrore guy keeps blasting the cave with fiery blasts, laughing menacingly. "If he isn't stopped," Razzle warns us, "the whole world could explode into flames!" He then adds more calmly, "You're gonna have to go down to investigate!"

The four of us run to stand around the Gorm Gate in order to choose a Keeper. "Elementals!" we say together.

"Air!" Jessica begins.

"Water!" I yell.

"Forest!" Lucas shouts.

"Earth!" Nick finishes.

"Reveal to us the Keeper and give to them your chair!" we chant.

The chair begins to spin around as Razzle says, "And the keeper is..." before coming to a stop with an orange icon with the Earth symbol on the back, "...Earth!" He climbs onto a crystal near Nick and says, "That's you, kid!"

After all the times my little brother complained about not being the Keeper, I'm kinda surprised that he's so chilled out about finally being chosen. I thought he'd try to declare a national holiday or something! Still, as he walks up to the chair, I can't resist teasingly remarking, "Try not to get too confused by all the bright lights, Nick!"

"Good point!" he says, looking at me. "I might get so disoriented I accidentally send you to the cave of _spiders!"_

I let out an involuntary squeak of fear. Please tell me that there isn't such a place! I roll my eyes when I realize he's joking and mutter, "So not funny!"

Nick jumps into the chair and uses the crystals to activate the Gorm Gate. Lucas jumps in first, as Jessica, Razzle and I follow.

"And...touchdown!" Nick calls as we land outside some weird cave. "The Travel Tome says you should be right outside the Cavern of Obscurio!" he informs us.

We look at the entrance. "Looks like Obscurio was a real humble guy..." Lucas says. He's kidding, right? "... _not!"_ Oh, phew!

As we walk in, there is a terrible smell. "Yikes!" I exclaim, waving my hand over my nose to try and waft the scent away. "Smells like this dude could use a breath mint!"

We come to a stop and Lucas asks, "Which way do we go?"

Jessica points right. "Looks like some major heat dimension!" she exclaims and we see black smoke rising from the rock. "Burning rock - which explains the bad smell!"

I point in the same direction. "If we wanna find Orrore, we just need to follow his path of destruction!" I say.

As the three of us head down the tunnel, we quickly discover how annoying it must be to try and get through. "It's like a maze in here!" Lucas exclaims.

I see another plume of black smoke and add, "I guess that's why Orrore's just destroying anything that gets in his way but what's he lookin' for?"

We come to a stop as Nick projects his image in front of us. "Obscurio was a power-hungry Gormiti who wanted to destroy the world and remake it in his vision," he reads from one of the tomes.

" _That_ explains the tacky front door!" Jessica says before adding slyly, "Looks like something _Toby_ would design!"

I frown at her. "Keep laughing," I say, "until my new uniform design blows _yours_ away!"

Like always, she finds a way to retaliate by countering with, "Yeah, right! I'll start holding my breath _now!"_

I frown again. I hate how she can always counter _everything_ I say with something even wittier - it's been like this since we were kids! - but, to my frustration, there's a part of me that's impressed by her ability to get under my skin.

Nick waits for us to be quiet before continuing, Jessica and I silently staring one another down for a moment or two as he speaks. "Obscurio spent his whole life collecting magic weapons from all over Gorm."

"I'm guessing that's why Orrore's here," Razzle pipes up. "He wants his stash!"

"So what happened to this Obscurio dude?" Lucas asks, shrugging.

"His enemies got together and magically banished him," Nick replies. "He hasn't been seen since, hmm - there's something here about his crown!"

I gasp as I hear an explosion coming from our location and whisper, "Hold on, Nick! We found Orrore!"

Said Gormiti walks through the hole he just created, laughing menacingly, while the three of us, along with Razzle, take cover behind a rock. We peep out and watch as he fires an orange beam from the trident at a hole right in front of him, causing it to set on fire.

"All I need to do is get inside and then all shall bow down to me!" he says evilly. As he fires again, the three of us scream and dive for cover, the sound luckily going unnoticed by Orrore.

I hold my hands over my head as Lucas points out frantically, "If he keeps unloading fireballs like that, he's going to melt Venture Falls!"

"Hopefully the symptoms of this disturbance won't appear across the globe," Nick says. "We need to stop it from getting any worse!"

I glance at the others before saying determinedly, "I think that's our cue!"

Nick gives us the go-ahead, announcing, "You're good to glow!"

"Elemental powers flow, Gormiti - Lords of Nature, go!" the three of us chant.

"Powers of the Sea!" I yell as I transform.

Once we've transformed, we stand behind Orrore, watching as he fires yet another blast at the room in front of him, laughing all the while. He still hasn't noticed us so I decide to rectify that. "Look, if they're not opening the doors, you should just take the hint," I call as Orrore turns to face us, "they don't want you at the party!"

"You _dare_ to interfere with Orrore?" he demands angrily. Well, duh, that's sort of the idea! I spot a small pool or spring of water and take control of it, drenching Orrore who lets out a furious cry as the water knocks him to the ground as well as knocking the trident out of his hands.

"That's a pretty big fork you got there," Lucas says as he jumps forward, "can I see it?" He grabs the trident with his vines, despite Orrore's attempt to reclaim his hold on it, and throws it at Jessica who turns so she is facing away from it. The weapon instantly shatters into pieces upon hitting her wings.

"Oops!" she says casually. "Did I do that?" I make a mental note to remember that Jessica's wings, as pretty as they are, are clearly razor-sharp - kind of fitting, actually. Y'know, because _she's_ pre- Okay, that's enough of _that_ \- those thoughts are because of the heat of competition or at least that's what I keep telling myself.

Razzle runs over and picks up a piece of the broken trident before tossing it away. "Looks like you just saved winter in Venture Falls!" he remarks happily.

"Yeah, but are we sure that was a _good_ thing?" I ask doubtfully. Things will be pretty chilly back home from now on, thanks to us. "Oh well!"

Orrore suddenly leaps to his feet, furiously exclaiming, "You destroyed the Trident of Ultimate Carnage and, worse, you got me all wet! I _hate_ being wet! You are _so_ going to pay for this!"

I roll my eyes. How many times are we gonna hear this lame _I'll make you pay for this!_ line? "Yeah, we hear that threat all the time," I say, not really taking him seriously, "and without your trident, what can you really do?"

Nick projects his image in front of us. "Have I mentioned that Orrore is, like, the second most powerful Fire Gormiti?" he says nervously. Well, shoot...

Orrore releases a huge blast of fire with a fierce cry and I yelp as I step aside to avoid getting burnt to a crisp. "It would have been nice if you had mentioned that earlier!" Lucas exclaims. The blast of fire continues whizzing around under Orrore's control and Lucas fires one of his bark-like fists at it, splitting it into two separate blasts. He grunts as he dives out of the way, hitting the ground hard and lying motionless.

I tense up as Orrore approaches Lucas' fallen form before he says, "Oh, yeah! Who's next?"

Jessica flies up into the air. "For another one of your lame taunts?" she asks cheekily. "I guess that would be me!" I watch as she flies towards Orrore, releasing a powerful gust of wind from her hands. Orrore counters with a strong blast of fire from his right arm.

The two attacks collide and, after a while, there is an explosion that sends them both flying backward. I watch Orrore cry out as he gets blasted right into the room he'd been trying to break into! This wasn't good.

I look at Jessica and Lucas, neither of whom seem like they're in any condition to get into another battle. I guess it's up to me to stop Orrore, then!

As I walk towards the room Orrore is in, I see that he is looking at some kind of object and saying something. I decide to listen for a little before attacking. "All I need is the crown of Obscurio!" he says. Oh, so that's what that thing is? It doesn't look like any crown I've ever seen but then again I can't really get a good look at it. "Now I can tap into the power of Obscurio and surpass all others!" he brags as he picks up the crown and holds it over his head, adding as an afterthought, "Even Magmion will bow down to me!"

At this point, I feel like I've heard enough. I hit him from behind with a powerful blast of water from my stomach and he hits the wall hard, collapsing to the ground as a small pile of rocks piles on top of him.

"You Fire Gormiti are all alike!" I say lightly, folding my arms. "Always babbling on and on about power, blah, blah!" I notice the crown, seeing that it is shaped like two pointy black horns with a red jewel in the middle. "What's so great about this crown?" I ask myself, picking it up. There must be something to it if Orrore wanted it so badly.

" ** _Put on the crown!_** " I hear a voice out of nowhere say frustratedly. I look around but I can't see anybody. " ** _Put it on! Come on, just do it! Put it on already!_** " The voice says insistently. Well, I guess there's no harm in listening to a disembodied voice telling me to put on a crown, right? Without really thinking things through, I stand up and put the crown on. The last thing I remember thinking, as I hear the rocks shifting, is that maybe it hadn't been my best idea - in fact, it was probably the worst.

* * *

 **"The crown?" I gasp and turn to see that Orrore has escaped from the rock pile. "Where did you hide it?" he demands. He raises his arm to attack but, in my fury, I fire an even more powerful blast of water from my stomach, sending him flying backward and hitting the wall before he even gets the chance to fire properly. A few medium-sized chunks of rock fall on top of him.**

 **The Lava Gormiti lifts the rocks off of himself with a grunt and glares at me. "This isn't over," he threatens. "I shall return for that crown!" He laughs before running away through a huge hole in the chamber. _The fool - he will never get my crown!_**

 **I turn to see a Forest and an Air Gormiti come in. Part of me feels like I know them - oh wait, Lucas and Jessica, now I remember. Not that it's of any importance to me.**

 **"No wonder Orrore left in such a hurry!" Lucas remarked. "There aren't any weapons in here! He wasted his time!" _What? The fool wants my weapons too? Those weapons are mine and mine alone!_**

 **A boy appears in a holographic image in front of us. Again I recognize him but I don't particularly care to know why.** _That's my brother!_ **Ah yes, Nick. "So Obscurio's crown isn't there?" he asks curiously.**

 **A lizard -** _Razzle!_ **\- climbs on top of the pedestal and shakes his head. "Nothing!" he confirms. "The crown was probably just an urban legend!" _That's what you think!_**

 **"Well, at least we saved winter!" Lucas says miserably. "Cold, cold winter!"**

 **"Yeah, what were we thinking?" Jessica asks before they leave the chamber through the same hole they had entered.**

 **I stand motionless for a few moments. With this body, I am free to dominate the Gorm at last and no one can stop me. _I'm free!_** _Just wait - my friends will find out what's going on and stop you!_ **_I'd like to see them try!_**

 **Nick pulls us through a portal and I find that my form has changed. I am small. Weak. Human.** **Just like them.**

 **"Come on, we have to get back to school!" Lucas says as he heads up the stairs. I follow, not knowing what school is but, judging from the disappointment emanating from my vessel, it wasn't pleasant.**

 _Being possessed is totally weird. It's like I'm trapped inside my own mind, unable to do or say anything. All I can do is watch and listen as this Obscurio guy controls my every move._

 _I hope the others figure it out. They're smart enough to. The moments when I manage to seize control are few and far in between. I just don't have enough time to..._

 **I lag behind the others as we walk into this school place. All around me, I see people doing various things. It makes me feel so out of place. "These humans are strange creatures," I mutter as I walk along slowly. "What kind of world have I stumbled into?"**

 **"Uh, Toby, did you forget where your locker is again?" Jessica asks and I come to a stop, gasping as I realize that I have wandered into the path of my...friends.**

 **"So you never told us what happened in that room against Orrore," Nick says curiously.**

 ** _That weak buffoon? Ha!_ "He was a pitiful foe who must have retreated when he didn't find my -** **uh, any of Obscurio's - weapons!" I say.**

 **"Uh, I guess that's one way to say it," Jessica says hesitantly, sounding confused. "So everything's back to normal!"**

 **A boy walks up to us wearing clothes that even I, the all-powerful Obsc - I mean Toby - know aren't appropriate for this sort of weather. "What's with this weather?" he asks through chattering teeth as he approaches us. " It's like it's out to get me!"**

 **"Sometimes...life is good!" Lucas exclaims happily as the boy walks away, shivering.**

 **"It'll be even better after I kick your butt in our contest!" Jessica says, pointing at me. "The Warriors are totally going to be wearing my uniforms - I rule the school!" She walks away, laughing, with Nick and Lucas.**

 ** _So she is my rival_** \- _no, she's my best friend - **and we are battling** **to arm our warriors -** we're competing to sell raffle tickets - **so we can rule the kingdom of school!** \- so we can see who gets to design the new hockey uniforms and who wins our bet. By the way, it's definitely going to be me! I have to win this!_

 **"I must do everything in my power to win this contest!" I say menacingly, glaring at nothing in particular.** **However, I can't do anything dressed like this! An intimidating evil overlord like myself needs to look intimidating and, at the moment, I look anything but.**

 **I spot a door nearby and open it to reveal hangers of clothes. I peruse the selection, shaking my head at the choices. Too plain. Too furry. Too girly. Too weird. Then, at last, I spot the perfect outfit for my nefarious campaign. I get changed and leave the room and head back to my locker to get my sack before I begin walking around the school to find people willing to support my reign of terror. As it turns out, I found quite a few - it seems humans may not be entirely worthless.**

 **"Cool costume, Toby!" a boy calls. I look over at the speaker and see two boys who look impressed by the mere sight of me. Hmm, perhaps they could be useful to me.**

 **"Thank you," I say coolly. "Buy a ticket!" The great Obscurio never asks - he demands. I hold out my design to them and their faces go from being intimidated to excited in the blink of an eye. Humans are very strange creatures indeed.**

 **"Awesome!" they exclaim together** **as they buy tickets. "Is there anything else we can do?"**

 **I pretend to think for a moment before replying, "As a matter of fact, there is. You two are going to help me eliminate the competition!"**

 _Eliminate? You can't do that! I won't let you hurt anyone, especially if that someone happens to be my - **Quiet, you fool!**_

 **I add as an afterthought, "Now where will I find those I call my...friends?"**

 **The two goo - I mean humans - tell me that my friends are in the cafeteria, having lunch with everyone else. Perfect.**

 **I can somehow recall the direction of this...cafeteria perfectly. I walk down the halls, the two boys following eagerly behind me. Eventually, I stop at a set of double doors and nod to one of my associates.**

 **The boy pulls a device out of his bag and presses a button on it, causing music to blast throughout the hall. They push open the doors, the other boy hastily throwing down a roll of red carpet for me to walk on.**

 **As I head towards my friends, I smirked at the stunned looks on everyone's faces. A few were whispering rapidly to their companions but I paid no attention to them. I was here for one thing and one thing only.**

 **I laugh as I approach their table, waving my arms around. Nick and Lucas give me weird looks and Jessica says awkwardly, "Yeah, good to see you too, Toby!"**

 **"Is this a joke or something?" Lucas asks.**

 **"No," I respond. "This is deadly serious." I snap my fingers and one of the boys tosses me my sack of tickets, which I catch easily. I take out some tickets and say, "Behold - the symbol of all the people who have pledged support for my reign of terror!"**

 **"Reign of...terror?" Nick asks uncertainly.**

 **I narrow my eyes and continue. "My army's uniform shall strike fear as we march across the land, leaving behind a path of destruction!" I hold up my design, waiting for their impressed reactions.**

 **Jessica looks at my design before sighing, "Yeah, that looks...interesting!" in a tone that suggested she thought it was anything but.**

 **Nick suddenly frown** **s and points at me. "Toby, don't panic, but there's a huge spider on your-"**

 **I look down and see that Nick is right. A spider is crawling on my shoulder.** _Spider? Get it off! Get it off!_ **"Whatever!" I scoff, casually flicking it off without batting an eyelid. "So are you going to concede defeat yet?"**

 **"Still time," Jessica replies stubbornly. "I can still beat you." That wasn't what I wanted to hear.**

 **"Wrong answer!" I yell, pointing at her. "Now suffer my wrath!" I snap my fingers and the three of them are bombarded with food, courtesy of my underlings. I watch the spectacle for a minute before laughing and swiftly leaving the room with the two boys whose names I did not care to know.**

 **Once we're out of the cafeteria, I turn to the two boys. I choose my words carefully. "You have provided...adequate assistance. Now I leave you to your own devices." I leave before they have the chance to say anything.**

 **I decide to head home, not seeing the point in remaining in this school for a moment longer.** **First I go back to the room where I left my usual clothes and get changed before leaving. When I arrive, I sit down and ponder my next move. Taking over this dimension would be easy, especially after I won the battle to rule the people of school. Soon they would be kneeling at my feet. How could the Great and Powerful Obscurio lose?**

 **After a while (at least, a couple of hours), I hear the door open and shut. I listen to the voices and confirm them as Nick, Lucas, and Jessica just as I hear them walk into the room. Nick steps forward, clearing his throat. I turn my head to face him and see that he has Razzle perched on his shoulder. "We just wanted to apologize for not being more accommodating," he says hesitantly and I raise an eyebrow. "We should've shown you more respect."**

 **Hmm, maybe I had been wrong to judge them so quickly. I looked at their faces, knowing that if they were lying, their expressions would give them away. There was nothing, however. They stood resolute and determined, staring me down with expressions that showed genuine respect. "Very well," I say. "I suppose I can forgive your transgression this time but, be warned if it happens again - I will not be so lenient!"**

 **They nod and then bow their heads. Lucas steps forward. "You must be getting pretty bored here, right?" he asks nervously. "How about a trip to Gorm? A change of scenery might help you come up with a strategy for your path of destruction."**

 **I think for a moment. Earth certainly isn't what I expected it to be and the combination of that and the warring voices in my head were giving me a headache. "You may be correct," I say, frowning. Going to Gorm would also allow me the opportunity to settle the score with that fool, Orrore. "Very well, we shall journey to Gorm immediately."**

 **They exchange surprised glances as I get up and march past them. After a second or two, I hear their footsteps behind me, though they don't seem to want to get too close. It suits me just fine.**

 **We walk into the pantry and head down to the Primal Pad, as Nick calls it. Lucas walks up to me after exchanging a glance with the others. "Come on, Toby!" he says eagerly. "We've got something really cool to show you!"**

 **"And what, may I ask, is this really cool thing?" I ask, folding my arms and looking at them as Nick jumps into a chair that rises up off the ground, putting him level with a control panel.**

 **"It's a surprise," Jessica says quickly. "Someone like you deserves the best of the best, right?"**

 **I look at them critically. They seem to be speaking genuinely so I nod. "Very well! You may show me whatever it is you deem good enough for my greatness!"**

 **The three of us jump through the portal and transform as soon as we land. I look around and see that we are in the forest somewhere.**

 **"So," I ask them. "Which way is it?" They point ahead of me and I start walking in the direction they pointed in, the two of them following. "You all were correct in pledging your allegiance to me," I say, holding up my hand to stop them as we reach a body of water. I turn to face them and watch as they kneel before me and I ask, "Now what did you wanna show me?"** **They get up and Lucas replies, "We figured somebody as powerful as you needs to have a castle and we found the perfect place!"**

 **My eyes light up at the idea of this. Just imagine all the evil schemes I'll be able to come up with. "A base of operations for my future campaigns? Lead on!" I command as they start walking ahead of me.**

 **"So have you thought about how many dungeons you want in your castle?" Jessica asks me curiously.**

 **I think for a moment. "Well, you always end up needing more dungeons than you have..." I gasp suddenly and come to an abrupt halt at what I'm seeing. The others have stopped too, wondering why I've stopped walking.**

 ** _I know this spring..._ I walk forward to join them and look at it in closer detail. I see the water pouring from a statue. Any Gormiti would recognize this place. I glance at them out of the corner of my eye. I should have suspected this all along. _This is a trap!_** **"I am not going back!" I yell as I stretch out my tentacles, which are surrounded by a fiery yellow glow, and hit at the ground in front of them. They both cry out as they fly backward, hitting the ground.** **I laugh before leaving, running past** **them.** ** _Those fools will pay for trying to trick me!_ "Vengeance will be mine!" I declare as I run through the forest before coming to an abrupt halt at the sight of Orrore. _Great - another fool to deal with!_**

 **"It seems we have something in common," he says, pointing at me. I tense up, ready for battle. "Relax!" he shouts, holding up his hand. "I don't want to fight!" He points at me again and adds, "I've been following you! I can see that you have great power!"**

 **I look at him, unimpressed, though I do relax my stance. "Yes, yes, I do. What is your point?" I ask.**

 **Orrore hastily replies, "We have the same enemies! We should team up and destroy them together!"**

 **"An unholy alliance for revenge?" I muse before smirking. "Sounds devious - I like it!" I walk forwards and shake Orrore's hand. "Let us journey to my hidden collection of magic weapons!" I say, reaching behind my back and pulling out a scroll. "I have the map right here."**

 **"Perfect!" Orrore cries, snatching the map right from my hand before shooting yellow beams from his eyes which hit me directly. He then fires a blast from his right hand. I get thrown back before I have the chance to do anything. A second blast makes me cry out in pain as I slam into a rock pile, the rocks flying everywhere as I hit the ground.**

 **I lay on the ground, gasping for breath. I hear Orrore approaching me. "I'm going to get these weapons myself!" he announces gleefully. "Then I'll dominate the Gorm...by myself!" He laughs evilly before I hear him run away.**

 **I raise my head slightly, fighting to keep my eyes open as I protest weakly, "That's my evil scheming laugh! You can't steal it - it's mine!" My head falls back and my eyes close as the darkness overwhelms me...**

 **When I awaken, everything is blurry. I hear a familiar voice asking, "Toby, what happened?" I realize, when my vision clears, that what I initially believed was a sentient tree is actually Lucas.**

 **I rubbed my eyes for a moment to make sure I wasn't seeing things. "That fool double-crossed me and is going to steal my weapons!" I respond, allowing him to help me up. "He wants to take over the Gorm himself!"**

 ** _We shook hands. Does that not mean anything anymore?_**

 **Suddenly I hear Nick's voice out of nowhere. "If Orrore gets his hands on those weapons, Venture Falls - and the whole world - could turn into a fiery inferno!"**

 **Lucas looks at me before saying seriously, "Toby, we need your help to stop Orrore!"**

 ** _Those fools tried to trick me into that infernal spring...but that other fool wants to steal my glory!_**

 **I decide that preserving my status as a gloriously feared villainous overlord is far more important to me right now. "I will agree to help on one condition - I am the leader!" I say, giving my terms.**

 **Lucas and Jessica exchange a look before bowing slightly. "Sure," Jessica accepts. "We just wanna stop him."**

 **"Then let us go off, minions!" I announce as I start to walk off before adding, "And please remember to always stand ten paces behind me!" I hear them begin to follow me but I can sense that they are too close to me. I turn around and hold up my hand to stop them. They groan and obediently back away.**

 **We walk in silence, nobody attempting to start a conversation. It doesn't take long before we find Orrore standing around with my map, looking very irritated. We hide behind some rocks.**

 **"Oh, this map is horrible!" he yells frustratedly. "I should have double-crossed him after he showed me where the weapons were!" He fires a blast at a statue in front of him. This action reveals a box that seems to glimmer.**

 **Orrore walks over to what I know is my collection of magic weapons. "Well," he says smugly, "look what I just found!" He then looks around and adds, "Yeah, I meant to do that!" He breaks open the lid and I bristle with anger. _Get away from my weapons, fool!_ "The arsenal of magic weapons...but where's the crown?"**

 **I glare at the others, silently telling them to get moving. They nod, their faces set before we all stand up. "Hey, Orrore!" Jessica yells to get his attention before firing a purple energy sphere that knocks him off his feet. "We're here to take you down. Nothing personal." she declares as she and Lucas stand in front of a huge rock wall.**

 **Lucas sends out his bark-like fist attached to strong, brown vines and punches the ground where Orrore is.**

 **Meanwhile, I run behind my precious box of weapons, unseen by Orrore, who struggles to his feet. "Don't play with fire or you just might get burned!" he warns. On the last word, he releases several powerful lava blasts that strike the wall behind them, destroying the top half of it completely. "Get the hint?" he adds in a sinister tone as they cry out, getting blasted back on to the piles of rock.**

 **He approaches them before asking, "Are you ready for your final curtain?" He then laughs evilly.**

 **That. Is. It. I've had it with this guy. First, he wants to steal my crown, then my glory and now he even wants to steal my patented doing-evil-things laugh! Absolutely unacceptable! I turn to the box and select a weapon, an axe with blue blades. "I told you..." I yell and he turns to face me, confused. "...that laugh is mine!" I let out a furious cry as I swing the axe at Orrore, sending him flying.**

 ** _That was for trying to steal my glory!_**

 _That was for trying to hurt my friends!_

 **"Nice shot, Toby!" Lucas says, looking impressed. "You knocked him right out of the park!" I frown at him. Who is this Toby person? All I know is that...**

 **"My name is Obscurio!" I yell angrily, not understanding how they don't seem to get that. "My enemies tried to banish me but, thanks to a dark magic, my spirit remained in the crown, waiting to get free!"**

 **"Toby," Jessica says as she and Lucas slowly get to their feet, "we can help you. You just need to come with us."**

 **"Why?" I ask them curiously. "I like this new vessel I'm inhabiting - so very powerful!" I snap my fingers as I say the last three words and my next weapon of choice - a red sphere with brown bands - floats into my open hand. "This is called an Earth Smasher," I say casually as it begins to glow. " You'll figure out why soon enough!"**

 **I leap up and throw it at the ground. Immediately dozens of small fissures start opening up, causing them to cry out in shock.** **I watch as Lucas runs to avoid the cracks and Jessica flies up into the air, holding some feathers in her hand.**

 **"Don't worry, I've got it!" she yells to Lucas before throwing the feathers at my weapon. The feathers were as sharp as knives and caused the red orb to shatter like glass which made the fissures close up.**

 **I glare at them both, Jessica having landed next to Lucas. I had already chosen my next weapon - one of my personal favorites. "This game grows tiresome!" I tell them as I attach a black glove with red trim to my right hand. "Say hello to the Hand of Doom!"**

 **The glove is surrounded by a yellow glow and an even bigger hand materializes in front of me ready for me to control. I raise my hand and the bigger hand follows my movements, punching the ground between the two which forces them to separate.**

 **I then attempt to hit Lucas but he ducks and the hand ends up hitting a pile of rocks instead. I can hear them having some sort of discussion about how the weapons are too powerful and they don't have enough energy. I laugh as I make the hand repeatedly punch the ground in between them.**

 **Lucas then attempts to fire a bark-like fist at the hand but I easily destroy it by clenching the hand into a fist and shattering the wooden projectile.**

 **After that failed attack, I switch targets and aim the Hand at Jessica but she avoids my attack by flying around the large fist before excitedly saying, "So maybe we can, like, snap him out of the possession! But how?"**

 **I notice that Nick has projected his image in front of the others and they seem to be discussing something. Suddenly Lucas calls out, "Toby, remember that cool birthday party you had on board that pirate ship?"**

 ** _What are those fools doing? They cannot stop me!_**

 _Of course, I remember that! It was awesome! Except..._

 **"Wait!" Nick says. "Wasn't that when Toby ate too many shrimp and got seasick?"** **I unwittingly remember my ninth birthday which had indeed taken place on a pirate ship. I recall stuffing my face with shrimp before groaning and heading for the nearest bathroom, the others watching in confusion as I ran with my hand over my mouth. It ruined pretty much the whole day as I spent an entire week after that recovering. "He didn't leave the bathroom for days!"**

 **I let out a furious cry as I send the Hand shooting towards them. Lucas says sheepishly, "Maybe that wasn't a good memory." The Hand punches between them, repeatedly hitting the rock behind them.**

 **They begin running - or flying, in Jessica's case - and I make the Hand give chase, punching the ground behind them in an attempt to catch them. Jessica suddenly calls out, "Toby, remember that time you scored the winning goal in the soccer finals?" I imagine myself on the soccer field dribbling the ball before kicking it and scoring a goal to win us the match. "Your team carried you off the field on their shoulders!" The team walks off the field, smiling while carrying me. I looked so happy...**

 **"That never happened!" Nick says and I gasp as I remember what actually happened that day. "Toby scored on his own net and his team lost!" I see myself on my team's shoulders but I was the only one laughing. It hadn't yet hit me that I had caused us to lose until they threw me onto the field and left me alone.**

 _Come on, guys! You must have some better memories for me than that! I just want out already!_

 **I glare at them even more fiercely than before and Lucas, looking terrified, cries out, "That's another bad memory!"**

 **"Speaking of which," Jessica adds, "I think we're going to have one of our own right about now!"**

 **I use the hand to pick up a medium-sized boulder and throw it at them but, out of nowhere, Orrore jumps down in front of them and the boulder crashes into him instead.**

 **When the dust clears, he stands up and says to them, "You may have won a battle but you did not win the war!"**

 **"Don't feel bad!" Jessica casually tells him as he leaves. "You did win something - the worst line by a super-villain ever. Congrats!"**

 **Now that the fool - I mean Orrore, I suppose - has gone, I send the Hand flying towards them once more** **. To my surprise, Lucas transforms his arms into strong brown vines and manages to hold the Hand in place. As he struggles against the power and strength of my mighty weapon, he yells out, "I don't know how much longer I can hold it back!" before adding desperately, "A little help? Nick?"**

 **"Toby!" I hear my brother's voice and look up to see his projected image in front of me. "Remember that school play you were in? You were famous! Everyone talked about how great you were!"**

 **My eyes widen as he speaks. Could this really be true? The only school play I could remember was... "Wait!" Lucas cuts in uneasily. "Didn't he freak out onstage because of a spider?"**

 _Great! You guys just had to remind me of what was, probably, the most humiliating moments of my life!_

 **For the third time, I unwillingly flashback to the first and last time I had ever been in a school play. I was playing the role of the king and, as I walked onstage for my scene, a spider lowered itself onto the sleeve of my costume. I remember screaming and hopping around, trying to get it off me while everyone laughed.**

 **"Yeah!" I hear Jessica reply. "Everyone called him the king of the sacred spider dance! It was a big hit on the internet!"**

 _It wasn't that funny! The only reason I was 'famous' was because everyone kept teasing me about the whole spider thing! I couldn't go anywhere without somebody bringing it up! For an entire month!_

 **That was it! I use the strength of the Hand and manage to break the vines that are trapping it before moving the Hand closer to them in a grabbing position. To my satisfaction, they look utterly terrified. Good.**

 **I give them such a fierce glare that Jessica squeaks out fearfully, "You think? Now you've made him mad!"**

 **"There's no escape from the Hand of Doom!" I declare as I close my hand into a fist, the Hand doing the same as it grabs Jessica and Lucas, trapping them in its grip as I laugh.**

 **They struggle but to no avail. "Come on, Toby!" Jessica yells suddenly. "Fight it!"**

 _Fight it? Exactly what do you think I've been trying to do all this time? Bake a cake? She's right, though. If they can't snap me out of Obscurio's control, I'll just have to do it myself!_

 ** _Stop! What do you think you're doing?_**

 _I am not king of the scared spider dance and enough with the laughing already! It's driving me crazy!_

 ** _You plan on helping them? They are the enemy!_**

 _No, they're my friends! I won't let you hurt them anymore!_

 **As the two consciousnesses inside my mind battle for control, I hear Lucas yell, "The grip is weakening!"**

 **"Toby's trying to regain control!" Jessica exclaims joyfully before the Hand loosens its grip enough for them both to jump free.**

 ** _You fool! You let them escape. We must-_**

 **"Must destroy them!"**

 _No, I won't let you! I have to-_

 **"No, help them!"**

 **I alternate between "Destroy them!" and "Help them!" over and over as the two consciousnesses continue to battle for control. The Hand turns over with each yell - clenching into a fist for the "Destroy them"'s and laying palm up for the "Help them"'s.**

 **"He's buying us some time!" Lucas yells. "Quick, this is our chance!"**

 **I watch as Jessica flies up into the air and releases a powerful blast of wind that knocks me off my feet. Then Lucas hits me hard with his bark-like fist attached to strong, brown vines.**

 _Ouch! Seriously, dude, that hurt! At least I know why they're doing it - they don't have any other choice._

 **"Sorry, Toby!" he says apologetically. "You'll thank us later!"**

 **I want to say something to them but I just don't have the strength. In fact, I don't have any strength left at all. That's the last thing I register before the darkness overwhelms me for the second time.**

* * *

 _I have no idea where I am right now but my body feels wet like I'm sitting in water or something._

 ** _No, not this infernal place! Not the spring!_**

 _Yes, they did it!_

 ** _So you're satisfied to go back to being a nobody?_**

 _Wait, w-what do you mean?_

 ** _Least loved by the parents who prefer your brother..._**

 _What are you talking about?_

 ** _Least loved by the one who will never return your feelings..._**

 _What feelings? I don't understand!_

 ** _I can see your insecurities. Your inner fears. The things you hide with that act of yours._** ** _I have seen it all. The way you try to fool yourself and those around you._**

 _I still don't - wait, what act?_

 ** _Face the truth, fool! You are a nobody! Your family knows it, your friends know it. Even you, yourself, know it!_**

 _You're wrong! My friends do care about me! We argue sometimes, sure, but they always have my back no matter what. You just can't understand it because you don't understand what it feels like to genuinely care about someone other than yourself! The truth is, I'm Toby Tripp, Lord of the Sea, and the only nobody here is you!_

 ** _No!_**

* * *

I can hear Nick's voice speaking to me. He sounds pretty concerned. "Toby, are you okay?" he asks.

Am I okay? I guess I've had better days but, at least, I have control of myself again. I open my eyes and rub my head sheepishly as I see the relieved smiles on everyone's faces. "I'm never gonna put on another crown ever again!" I declare.

"Hey, getting possessed wasn't all bad!" Nick points out and I give him a puzzled look so he elaborates, "Thanks to Obscurio, you're beating Jessica in the raffle!" Jessica groans and glares at him, an angry flush on her face while Nick responds with a _Well, it's true!_ expression on his face.

Nick gates us back to Earth and as soon as we set foot on the ground in the Primal Pad, Jessica turns to me and says, "Just because you had Obscurio's 'help' doesn't mean you'll win this, you know! I could still beat you!"

I grin at her. "Not a chance!" I respond confidently. "There can only be one winner and that's me!"

"In your dreams!" she retorts, trying to sound indignant but failing miserably as a smile spreads across her face. Trying to one-up each other was something we had enjoyed for as long as I can remember.

"I don't want to interrupt you guys here," Nick says in an amused tone, "but if we don't get moving now, we won't know which of you has won!"

"Yeah, let's go!" Lucas chimes in as we come out of the Primal Pad and leave the house, heading for the school. Jessica and I good-naturedly bickered about who was going to win the entire way there while Nick and Lucas rolled their eyes in exasperation.

We arrived at the school hall just as Principal Morris - a middle-aged man with brown hair and glasses - was stepping up to the microphone. Lucas and Nick joined the small crowd of students that had gathered while Jessica and I stood out in front.

"Thanks to our raffle, we have raised enough money to get our hockey team new uniforms! Go, Warriors!" he interrupts the announcement with a cheer for our school team.

Jessica and I shoot competitive glances at each other. I wish Principal Morris would just tell us who won already!

Principal Morris holds up a card and says, "And the student who sold the most raffle tickets and gets to design the new uniforms is..."

"Come on!" Jessica and I mutter eagerly as I point to myself. I'm not looking at her but I can tell that Jessica is doing the same thing. She wants to win this as badly as I do. I'll feel bad for her when I beat her.

"...Lucas!" he announces. Wait, _what?_

We both gasp and turn around, seeing him smirking at us. "Lucas?" we ask in utter confusion.

"I didn't even know you were selling tickets!" I add before asking, "What did you design?"

"The first environmentally-friendly hockey uniform!" he replies, before unrolling a sheet of white paper to reveal his design. It's kind of... plain and I can't help noticing that...

"They look exactly the same as the _old_ uniforms!" Jessica points out. She's right. There's virtually no difference between Lucas' proposed design and the current uniforms for the hockey team.

Lucas looks horrified as he hastily says, "But _made_ with all natural fibers with no dyes! I even recycled the logos from the old uniforms!" The last part he says with a wink directed at us.

I step forward slightly and ask, "But how did you beat us?"

"The hockey team liked their old uniforms. They bought all my tickets to keep things the same." Lucas explains.

"I can't _believe_ this!" Jessica says, sounding totally confused. Well, she's not the only one...

"Well, you'd better!" Nick says suddenly. "According to the bet, the loser has to do the winner's chores for a week!"

My face falls as Lucas adds happily, "and since I won..." before laughing. Jessica and I glance at each other disappointedly before we both groan with dismay.

"I don't get it!" I say before pointing at Lucas. "Why didn't you just tell us you were competing too?"

He shrugs before he says in an amused tone, "I did try but you guys were so concerned with trying to beat each other that you didn't notice!"

We both grin sheepishly and Nick says, "Here's an idea - next time there's some sort of competition, why don't you compete together instead of going against each other?"

"What do you mean?" I ask cautiously.

"Well, my dad always says the best rivals can also be the best team-mates," Lucas adds cheerfully. "You guys are pretty good working alone but just imagine the kind of team you'd make. You'd be unbeatable!"

I look at Jessica curiously. It would be kind of nice to not have to worry about having to beat her if we were working together to win. "So what do you think?"

She looks thoughtful before saying brightly, "I think they're right, don't you? With our awesome skills, we'd be the best of the best!"

We high-five just as Lucas says, "Well, you guys can test out your awesome skills by getting my chores done!"

"Oh man," I say, disappointed. "I was hoping you'd forgotten about that!" Lucas and Nick laugh loudly as we both slump over, looking miserable.

* * *

AN: I'm so sorry this took so long to write. I've been writing a bit at a time whenever I had the chance. I hope this chapter satisfies you guys and see you next time! A very Merry Christmas to everybody (if you celebrate it) - have a great day! :-)


	9. Chapter 8 - Beastly

_AN: Hello, everyone, and welcome to the new chapter of ROTLON! I'm glad you're enjoying it so far._

 _A question for all my readers: do you prefer my older stuff (Gormiti Love, Returning Fire, etc) or do you like my newer writing better (ROTLON)? Let me know._

~••~

"I think that's the last of them!" I call to my younger brother, Nick. "How are you doing?"

"All done here too!" he replies, walking over to join me. We had spent the entire morning putting up flyers advertising Jessica and Gina's dog-walking business. In exchange for helping them out, they had agreed to share the money they earned with us.

As we start walking down the street, it doesn't take long before we spot Jessica herself with two leashes in her hand. She leans down and pets the dogs who wag their tails frantically.

"Hey, Jessica, how goes our dog-walking biz?" Nick inquires as we walk over to her.

"You're looking at two satisfied customers!" she tells us happily as she looks up. "You put up my flyers?"

"Natch!" I confirm, gesturing to a flyer I stuck to the nearby lamp-post. "And with the money we earn, we can afford the advanced release of _Skullblasters 360_!" I could just picture it now. That game was so cool, _everybody_ wanted it!

Jessica rolls her eyes. "Because what I need in life are more video-game explosions? Uh, no!" she exclaims, causing Nick and I to sigh. "Some of us need a new outfit for the Spring Fling party!"

We watch, bemused, as she turns and starts walking up the street like some sort of catwalk model. "I've got an outfit for early spring and another for late spring..." she muses, more to herself than to us. I don't think I get what the big deal is - it's not like she doesn't have plenty of outfits already. " _Hello?"_ she exclaims suddenly, rushing at us with her index fingers inches away from our faces, causing us to gasp. Whoops, guess she must have realized that we weren't actually listening! "This dance is a _mid-spring_ thing!" She turns away from us and sighs, "Boys!"

As she goes to answer her phone which had started ringing at that moment, Nick and I exchanged a look and I know we're thinking the same thing - neither of us will ever understand how the minds of girls work.

"Gina! What's the word?" Jessica says into her phone. We can't hear what Gina says in reply but Jessica excitedly exclaims, "Spring Fling, here we come!" before hanging up.

We stare at her, neither of us knowing what to say when we hear a sudden shout of "Hey!" Turning around, we see Lucas running towards us. "Have you guys been watching the news?" he asks between pants as he runs to and finally reaches us.

"Only to see the sports bloopers!" I respond. "That stuff's awesome!" Funny, too.

Lucas gives me a look as he stops. "No, man! The Venture Falls zoo - last night the animals totally busted out!"

I wasn't sure whether to find this funny or scary as I exclaim, "No way!"

Lucas continues, looking serious. "They caught all the animals, except for one. A lion is still on the loose - it could be anywhere!"

"You're kidding...right?" Jessica asks just before the two dogs move forward, barking furiously. We look down and see a bush rustling. "Lion!" she squeaks fearfully, as we all stare in horror at the shaking bush.

" _Lion? Where?_ "

The sight of Razzle's head popping out of the bush was enough to make all of us scream. A lion on the prowl is scary enough without Razzle pulling his sneak-up-on-us-every-time-there's-trouble-in-Gorm thing!

" _Razzle_!" Jessica says exasperatedly, struggling to keep hold of the dogs who are still barking and seem to want to chase after the lizard. As Razzle climbs onto Nick's shoulder, safely out of the dogs' reach, Jessica's phone rings again. "Hang on," she tells us before answering it. "More calls on the flyers?" Razzle shakes his head quickly and Jessica replies, "Sorry, I will when I can, but...something's come up!"

After she hangs up, the four of us head for home and the Primal Pad. As usual, we head into the pantry and slide our hands across the panel to gain access.

We stand in front of the control panel as Razzle begins his explanation: "There are rumors in Gorm that Magmion has acquired a new steed - Drakkon!" The screen shows an image of Magmion sitting on top of a fierce-looking red and black dragon. "Drakkon is a Volcano Ancient Guardian of magical power! He's one of the Ancient Guardians!"

I've never even heard of them but Nick, who I swear knows _everything_ , asks, "Ancient Guardians?" before turning to address us. I stare at him as he goes on to say, "You're talking about immortal creatures that haven't been seen for, like, ever! I thought they were only legends!"

I have no idea how he knows all of the info he knows but I guess it is useful. "Dude, seriously, how do you know all this stuff?" I ask him.

"You like watching sports bloopers and I like to read," he replies and I frown. Should have known it was a case of _Super Nerd!_

"So if Drakkon really _does_ exist _and_ he's been found by Magmion-" Jessica begins.

"Sounds like a bad combo!" Lucas finishes, saying what we were all thinking.

"The worst!" Razzle confirms worriedly. "Your mission is to get to Gorm and get to the bottom of these rumors!"

We run to stand around the Gorm Gate and cry out, "Elementals!"

"Air!" Jessica starts.

"Water!" I yell.

"Forest!" Lucas calls.

"Earth!" Nick finishes.

As one, we chant, "Reveal to us the Keeper and give to them your chair!"

"And the Keeper is..." Razzle says as the chair spins around rapidly. "...Air!" he declares as a light blue icon with the Air symbol appears on the back of the chair. The two dogs bark and leap into the chair, prompting an unimpressed Razzle to add, "And could you keep your furry friends off the furniture?"

"Prepare to get your Gorm on, boys!" Jessica exclaims as she runs over to the chair and gently shoos the dogs out of it. The chair rises up to be level with the control panel. "If Magmion's in the forest, then so are we!" she says as she manipulates the crystals in order to open the Gorm Gate.

I jump through the portal first, followed by Nick, Lucas, and Razzle. "And...touchdown!" Jessica declares as we land. "Okay, guys, Travel Tome says you're right on target!"

We look around us - we're definitely in the forest but...

"No sign of Magmion!" Nick says as we start walking.

"Are you sure?" Jessica asks, projecting her image near us. "I'm picking up a major magic reading in your area!"

"Like _how_ major?" Nick inquires.

"Like _major_ major!" Jessica responds.

"I'm sensing something too!" Lucas says suddenly, to our surprise, as he starts walking faster. "I feel all tingly!" I roll my eyes and groan. This is _just_ what we need!

We carry on walking for a while until Lucas stops and exclaims, "It's the forest! It's alive!" We look at what seems to be some sort of... huge plant monster... and watch as it steps out of the bushes. Roots start growing on the ground it had its feet standing on as it walks past us.

"It's not the forest - it's _that!_ " Nick says, looking a little awed. We gasp at the sheer size of it. Even if we were transformed, it would still make us look like tiny dolls in comparison.

Razzle steps forward, standing between Nick and I. "Ancient Guardian!" he says, his voice shaking slightly.

"Drakkon?" I ask, frowning. This creature doesn't look a thing like the red and black dragon we saw on the screen in the Primal Pad.

"No," Razzle responds, shaking his head. "This one's a Forest Ancient!" I guess that explains why we thought the forest was alive. "That means it's true - the Ancient Guardians of legend are returning to Gorm!"

Nick and I nervously eye the creature. We have no idea if it's friendly or not and the sheer size and power of it makes me kind of reluctant to find out. "Dude, no sudden movements!" I whisper before we gasp, seeing Lucas approach the Ancient Guardian, seemingly not caring about the potential danger.

"It's okay," he reassures us as he comes to a stop. "It's like we share an unspoken connection."

"Makes sense," Razzle points out thoughtfully. "You're a Forest Gormiti and so is this guy!"

The creature lowers its head, allowing Lucas to touch it. When he does, his eyes glaze over, almost as if he's in some kind of trance. "Troncalion," he informs us. "His name is Troncalion." Suddenly his face grows pale as he adds fearfully, "And - and he's _angry!_ "

We watch in horror as the creature, or Tronc- wait, you know what, I think I'll call him... _Trunky_ \- stands up on its hind legs, its front legs looming over Lucas, who stands frozen in terror. Realizing that he is in real danger of being crushed, I slam into him with a tackle, managing to get us both out of the way of Trunky's feet.

I move off of him and we watch as Trunky continues running until something stops him - at least I guess it's a him - in his tracks. "He's trapped!" Lucas exclaims as some sort of magic pyramid forms over the huge creature.

"Lock rocks!" Razzle declares as he and Nick walk over to join us. "I've never seen 'em this powerful before!"

"Lock rocks?" Nick asks uncertainly.

Now this is an opportunity _not_ to be missed! "Hey, finally something you _don't_ know!" I say teasingly. Just then, we hear a strange roar and the shadow of a creature flies over our heads. "What was that?" I whisper, forgetting about teasing my brother for not knowing something.

"I don't know," Nick responds nervously, "but let's get this over with and fast! Jessica?"

"Lock rocks - got it!" she exclaims before adding, "You're looking for three strategically placed magic crystals!"

We walk over to where Trunky is trapped and see the crystals embedded in the ground. "The crystal triangulation must create some sort of a magic snare!" Nick guesses. I'm going to admit it - I don't have the slightest idea what that means. All I know is that it's a trap and traps are bad.

Lucas swings his foot back, about to kick one of the crystals when Razzle stands in front of it and cries out in alarm, "Yikes! You have any idea how much power is in those things? You've got to be _very careful!_ "

"Razzle's right," Jessica says, as she projects her image near us. "You want to bring all three of the crystals together over Troncalion - _carefully!_ "

We each step forward and take hold of a crystal, moving in as close as we can. Eventually, we encounter a problem - Trunky is simply too tall for us to reach the top of him. I may be slightly taller than the others but even I can barely reach his shoulders at full stretch. "We can't reach!" Nick complains.

After a few moments, Trunky suddenly kneels down on the ground. "Come on, guys, it's cool!" Lucas tells us and we begin to climb onto Trunky's back. When we touch the three crystals together, there is a bright blue flash and the pyramid disappears.

"Dude!" I say, impressed. Suddenly we gasp and look up as the shadow from earlier flies over us again. Trunky stands up abruptly, causing the three of us to cry out as we tumble from his back and land on the ground.

We hear familiar evil laughter and look up to see Magmion on the back of - oh, so _that's_ Drakkon! The dragon fires a blast of Trunky who jumps out of the way. Drakkon then fires a second blast before Razzle cries out fearfully, "Drakkon!"

Yeah, I think we got that, Razzle.

Drakkon flies straight at us and we duck to the ground to avoid getting hit. Magmion looks back at us. "You can meddle with my traps but you can't stop me from taming that beast!" he boasts.

"We'll see about that!" Lucas yells defiantly as he gets up.

"On it, guys! You're good to glow!" Jessica declares.

We step forward slightly before yelling together, "Elemental powers flow, Gormiti - Lords of Nature, go!"

"Powers of the Sea!" I shout as I transform, letting out a fierce roar.

"Attack!" Magmion yells and Drakkon starts to fly towards us as we brace ourselves. Suddenly Trunky steps in front of us - I guess he's trying to protect us - and takes the brunt of Drakkon's fire.

We run towards Trunky and stand behind him just as Drakkon releases a second blast of fire. "The breath on that thing!" Nick exclaims, he and Lucas being a lot closer to Trunky than I was. Obviously, that dragon needs a trip to the dentist and a lesson on oral hygiene.

I run out from behind Trunky as Drakkon lands on the ground. "Time to rinse out that mouth!" I yell before stepping onto Drakkon's tail to propel myself into the air. I flip a few times before landing on his neck, causing him to make some weird squeaky sound. Jumping off, I turn my body upside down before firing my water spheres directly into his mouth and landing on the ground.

Smoke billows from Drakkon's mouth. I can't believe it - I just beat an Ancient Guardian! "Hello!" I say before yelping as Drakkon lowers his head and snaps his jaw at me. Charming! I retaliate by transforming my right arm into a lobster claw and snapping it at the dragon.

Suddenly Magmion starts laughing. "You can't extinguish the ancient fires of Drakkon, boy!"

"Well, it was worth a shot!" I say sheepishly as Drakkon opens his mouth to fire at me but is stopped when brown vines wrap around his jaw, sealing it shut.

"Denied!" Lucas exclaims happily, Drakkon unable to do anything except angrily puff smoke out of his nostrils, as Nick walks over to join us. Suddenly Drakkon gives his head a mighty toss and sends Lucas flying, causing him to let out a startled cry. I watch Nick run forward and catch our friend before he can hit the ground.

I smile with relief but the moment is short-lived as Drakkon slams his tail into my abdomen, causing me to cry out as I fly backward. I land hard on my back and wince as I sit up, watching as Drakkon starts circling near Trunky.

Trunky fires some weird plant-like projectiles which hit Drakkon. Roots start rising from under the ground, tangling around the dragon's front legs. Drakkon pulls against the roots and, with a few flaps of his large wings, manages to pull himself free. "Another feeble attempt to delay the inevitable!" Magmion declares, Drakkon letting out a fierce roar as they soar into the air before turning around.

"Oh, snap!" I hear Lucas say worriedly, obviously realizing that Drakkon was heading straight for him and Nick. I watch Drakkon release a powerful blast of fire that heads right for Nick and Lucas. Nick transforms his arm into a rocky shield and Lucas transforms his arms into strong vines that burst from the ground and form a barrier between him and the fire.

Drakkon's fire is relentless, though, and soon I see them gritting their teeth as they struggle to continue shielding themselves. I want to help them but I'm still winded from Drakkon's tail-slap and attempting to move at all right now is kind of painful.

Suddenly there is a huge cloud of smoke that obscures my vision. I can't be sure but I think I see a bright flash before Drakkon's fire seems to come to a halt. When the smoke clears, Nick and Lucas are sitting on the ground, in human form.

"Okay," I hear Lucas say breathlessly to Nick. "That was intense!" They seem to be unharmed, just a little exhausted.

"Super blasty banana intense!" Nick responds. I'll never understand my brother's penchant for making up phrases with the word " _banana_ " in them. Still, I'm glad they're both okay...

"Uh, Nick?" Lucas suddenly cries out fearfully. Well, apparently they may not entirely be okay. Drakkon is hovering menacingly in the sky above them and, if he opens fire on them again - which he undoubtedly will -, they have no way of defending themselves.

Just as I predicted, Drakkon opens his mouth and releases a stream of fire at Nick and Lucas who scream as they raise their arms above their heads and attempt to make themselves as small as possible to avoid getting burnt to a crisp.

All of a sudden, Trunky steps in front of them, taking the blast in their place. He doesn't make a sound as the flames hit him and I'm not even sure if they're hurting him or not. He just continues to stand in front of Nick and Lucas, using himself as a shield.

To my alarm, I see Magmion holding some sort of weird device in his hand as Drakkon descends until he is just above Trunky. I guess Trunky must be in more pain than I thought because he makes no effort to move as Magmion says, "And now, Troncalion," before using the device to create some sort of magic rope that wraps around Trunky's neck and forms a metal collar with yellow jewels. "You belong to Magmion!"

The jewels on the collar as well as Trunky's eyes begin to glow as I hear Lucas say, "Troncalion..." in disbelief.

"Today, the Ancients! Tomorrow, the world - _your_ world!" Magmion declares as he and Drakkon fly away. What does he mean by that?

"What does he mean by that?" Nick asks as Lucas stands up. Just then, Trunky starts charging towards and I tense up, worrying that they're about to be crushed. However he merely leaps over their heads and runs off in the same direction as Magmion and Drakkon.

I manage to finally get to my feet, having recovered from the winding blow I had received. "Troncalion!" Lucas yells and I stand in front of him to prevent him from running after Trunky. "Come on," he says impatiently. "We've got to-"

"To what?" I interrupt, frowning at him. He does realize he won't be able to help Trunky as a human, right? "You're just a kid," I point out before turning my head to look at Trunky who was slowly lumbering away from us and adding, "and your pal Trunky there isn't really himself at the moment."

Lucas frowns back. "His name's Troncalion and he needs our help!"

Jessica projects her image near us and says to him, "Which is why you need to recharge. Toby's still got glow - he can track while your orbs glow up."

Lucas looks down at the ground for a moment before looking up at me. I was taken aback by the emotion in his eyes. Wow, I guess he really cares about Trunky, huh? "Promise me you'll stick to Magmion like glue!" he says to me.

I doubt I'll ever understand the whole bond with Trunky thing Lucas seems to have going on but if he wants me to find Trunky, then that's exactly what I'll do. "By the orbs!" I swear, placing my hand on his shoulder.

"Okay, Jessica, bring us back!" Nick calls.

"You coming, Razzle?" Lucas asks as he links hands with Nick and the little lizard shakes his head.

"I think I'll stay here with Toby," he responds, climbing up onto my shoulder. Together we watch as Nick and Lucas rise up into the portal that will take them back to Earth.

"Guess all we have to do is wait for Jess to tell us where to find Trunky," I say to Razzle once they're gone. I sit down on a rock, not sure how long it will take.

After only ten minutes which passed by rather quickly because I distracted myself by drumming my fingers against my leg, Jessica projects her image beside me. "Finally!" I exclaim. "Do you have Trunky's location?"

Jessica raises an eyebrow when I say "Trunky" before frowning and replying, "Yes...and no. The-"

"Could you be a little more helpful here?" I say, folding my arms. "You either have his location or you don't."

"Well, as I was saying before _you_ interrupted me," Jessica says huffily, "the crystals are detecting a big magic signature on the beach near the Gorm sea. The only problem is, we don't know for sure that it's definitely Troncalion we'll find there!"

"We should head to the beach now, right, kid?" Razzle says as Jessica's image fades out.

"Yep!" I say as I get up from the rock and stretch my arms before we start walking. We've barely gotten out of the forest when I suddenly realize that I don't actually know which beach to head to.

Jessica has apparently realized this too as she projects her image beside me and sheepishly gives me directions before giving me a stern warning not to try to battle Trunky alone, a sentiment Razzle echoes.

"You wouldn't stand a chance against an Ancient Guardian, kid!" he warns. "Even if the others were here, you'd still struggle."

I hold up my hands. "Okay, okay," I sigh. "I'll find Trunky and I won't try to battle him!" Jessica nods and her image fades out again.

With that said, I begin making my way to the beach, taking the route Jessica told me about. Suddenly I think of something and ask Razzle, "Assuming Magmion _did_ lead Trunky to the beach, why would he do that? He doesn't seem like the type who enjoys vacationing at the beach!" I laugh to myself as I picture Magmion on a deckchair with a bottle of sunscreen and sunglasses.

"Somehow I doubt a vacation is what Magmion has in mind, Toby," Razzle responds, shaking his head. "All I can tell you is it can't be good!"

I carry on walking. There's not much point in worrying about the _why_ until we know _who_ we're going to find! After a few more moments of walking, I stop at the edge of a cliff that overlooks the beach.

Razzle jumps down from my shoulder and lands on the ground as I crouch down and peer closely at the beach. "Bingo!" I whisper triumphantly.

"What a relief!" Razzle says as I stand up.

I continue to look down at Trunky who doesn't seem to notice he's being watched. As I'm wondering just what I'm supposed to _do_ , Jessica projects her image beside me. "Nicely done, Jessica!" I praise her. "When you track a magic signature, you track a magic signature!"

"Troncalion?" she asks curiously.

"In the flesh!" I say as I gesture down to the beach before wondering if " _flesh_ " had been the right word to use so I add, "Or whatever he is!"

"An Ancient Forest Gormiti?" she muses thoughtfully before concluding, "I'm guessing _plant stuff_!" Ehhh, that does make the most sense.

"What's he doing down there?" Razzle asks, puzzled, as he looks down at Trunky as well.

"I don't know," Jessica replies. "The magic signature only tells me _where_ not _what_ or _who_!" She then adds, "Any sign of Magmion?" as an afterthought.

I was about to give her a negative when all of a sudden, I got a really bad feeling of there being someone else with us and turn around to find Magmion and Drakkon hovering behind me. "Uh, funny you should ask!" Drakkon opens his mouth, preparing to release his flame, and I yell, "Here comes the fun part!"

As Drakkon releases his fire, I scream as I jump off the edge of the cliff and slide down it, grabbing Razzle off of a small ledge on the way. Eventually, I push my feet off the cliff and use the resulting momentum to propel myself into the sea, letting out an exuberant cheer as I practically fly from the cliff into the water.

Razzle and I hide underwater as Drakkon and Magmion circle above our heads. "You can track me if you want but there's no sneaking up on Drakkon!" I hear Magmion say.

We swim a short distance away and I surface, frowning in confusion. "What is he doing out here anyway?" I ask.

Razzle surfaces, gasping for breath as he spits water out of his mouth. "Aside from ruining my afternoon..." he complains.

I wait for him to finish but something feels weird. The water around us is bubbling. "Huh, now what?" I ask, having no idea what's even happening right now.

A huge shadow appears beneath us and I hear a strange sound. I cry out as something surfaces with Razzle and I on top of it. "By the orbs!" Razzle exclaims in shock.

"Uh-oh! Dude!" I say, not knowing if this creature is friendly or not. It is blue with an orange shell and seems to resemble an octopus. Suddenly I begin to understand something - something I hadn't understood before.

"Sea Ancient!" Razzle declares nervously.

I listen to the creature's calls. For some reason, I can understand what the calls mean, almost like speech. "I - I think I understand what Lucas was saying about Trunky!" I tell it. "You and me are like - we're connected! I'm Toby and you're - your name is Tentaclion!" I look up for a moment and ask, "Why do I know that? This is awesome!" before saying, "Okay, uh, tell me something else!"

Suddenly I find myself having to hold on for dear life as Tentaclion starts moving. It takes me a couple of seconds to realize that we are speeding towards the shore as I listen to his calls. "You're here to rescue the Ancient Guardian?" I ask, puzzled before it hits me. "Oh, you mean Trunky!" I say with dawning comprehension before I stand up on Tentaclion's back, holding my arms out for balance. "Yeah, let's spring Trunky!" I declare, hearing Razzle cry out as he struggles to hold on.

Just as Trunky is coming into view, I hear an all-too-familiar voice behind me. "Come and try it, boy!" Magmion says and I turn around, blinking in shock. How long have they been following us?

"Gettin' thirsty?" I ask as I release some water globes from my stomach, causing Drakkon to swerve around all over the place in order to avoid them. I focus all my energy and fire yet another one but, at the same time, Magmion fires the same golden rope he fired at Trunky at us.

The water globe hits its mark. Unfortunately...so does the golden rope. It wraps around Tentaclion, leaving behind a collar identical to the one Trunky is wearing. "Oh no, you didn't!" I exclaim, transforming my right arm into a claw and struggling to cut the collar. However, I cannot break it - guess it must be reinforced with some kinda magic or something. I continue to struggle with the collar but I now have a really foreboding feeling in the pit of my stomach. Tentaclion is now under Magmion's control which means...

"Tentaclio-o-o-o-o-o-on!" I yell as the once docile creature wraps a thin yet strong yellow tentacle around my body and tosses me, sending me flying. Again. I scream as I notice I'm heading right for an outcrop of jagged rocks and brace myself for what I can guess will be intense pain but it never comes. Instead, I bounce off of a net of vines and land in someone's arms.

"Toby, you're not an Air Gormiti!" I hear Nick's voice chide me as he sets me down on the ground. "Stick to the water where you belong!" I breathe a sigh of relief - I've honestly never been more glad to see Nick and Lucas in my entire life!

"I see you're all charged and good to glow!" I say once I've got my breath back.

"Thanks to our keeper, Jessica!" Nick responds, grinning at me.

Just then, the three of us are bombarded by sand. "Sandstorm!" Lucas exclaims, holding his hands in front of his face, an action that Nick and I mimic.

"I love the ocean," Magmion declares out of nowhere before adding, "but it's always so windy at the shore!"

The sand continues to blow at us relentlessly, leaving us with no other option than to keep our eyes shut tight and hold our hands in front of our faces. Eventually, it covers us completely and it's a very unpleasant feeling. Not only can I feel every single grain of sand against my skin, I also feel uncomfortably trapped, my limbs pinned to my body by the mass of sand.

I realize quite quickly that if we don't get out of these sand dunes pretty sharpish, we're all going to suffocate. Not a nice way to go. I coil my tentacles into a drill shape and manage to break through the top of my sand pile. As my head is once again exposed to the outside world, I greedily gasp for the air that I had been denied for a short time and cough a little. Definitely _not_ on my list of things I'd ever want to do again!

"Where's Magmion?" I hear Nick ask as he, too, breaks free of the sand.

"Gone!" Lucas exclaims, having also managed to free himself. "With the Ancient Guardians!" He's right. There's absolutely no sign of anybody here, except for us.

A sigh interrupts the uneasy silence that had fallen upon us and we turn our heads to see Razzle dragging himself out of the water. "Okay, what did I miss?" he asks before groaning as his tiny body exhaustedly slumps down on the sand.

"We're almost at the top of the ridge. How are the readings over there?" Nick asks Jessica.

"Nuts!" she replies. "Each time Magmion enslaves one of those big guys, we're seeing effects back here on Earth!"

"Rift activity?" Nick guesses.

"Tons!" Jessica confirms. "And it's not just the animals going wild anymore! Reports of shriveling forests came in when Troncalion was captured and reports of lakes drying up with the capture of the Sea Ancient Guardian!"

"Tentaclion," I say, remembering that the others didn't know his name yet.

"Right!" she nods, before adding gravely, "It's like all the elements of Earth are withering away!"

"So what should we do?" Lucas asks Razzle who had managed to climb on to Nick's shoulder.

"Not sure, kid!" he responds as I notice the thoughtful frown on my brother's face. I know that look all too well. It's his _I'm thinking of an idea_ look.

"Okay, Nick, spill," I say to him and he jumps slightly, coming out of his stupor. "What are you thinking?"

He sighs before saying slowly, "This may be just a theory but hear me out. Magmion's already captured two Ancient Guardians - Troncalion and Tentaclion." We all nod and he continues. "Well, what if he tries to go after another Ancient Guardian? We have to stop that from happening!"

"Maybe if we find the Ancient Guardian first and move them to a safe location, Magmion won't be able to enslave them like he did the others!" Lucas suggests eagerly.

"Yeah, and how exactly are we going to do that?" I ask, folding my arms. "Magic signatures don't tell you _who_ , they only tell you _wher_ \- Nick, where are you going?" I cut myself mid-sentence, seeing that my little brother is walking up the ridge alone.

He turns back and looks at me. "To find the Ancient Guardian, of course," he replies as though it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Uh, no offense, Nick," Lucas begins cautiously. "But how do you know where this Ancient Guardian will be?"

I see my little brother falter slightly. It's pretty obvious he doesn't know where the Ancient Guardian is which means he's working on a hunch - and Nick's hunches usually tend to be accurate. "I don't," he admits. "Not exactly, but from what I studied about the Ancient Guardians in the tomes, I have a pretty good idea of where we can find one." He turns around and continues walking.

Lucas and I exchange a look. There's no denying that Nick's perusal of the Primal Pad library has given him a vast amount of knowledge on Gorm and its inhabitants. Therefore, if he says he knows where to find an Ancient Guardian, I believe him. We shrug before running to catch up with Nick.

As we walk up the path, Lucas, who had taken the lead, says, "We've gotta free the Ancients from Magmion's control and fast!" before adding in a confused tone, "What's he want with them anyway?"

"More importantly, where exactly are we going?" I ask. Nick hasn't actually told us where we're heading. In fact, he's been pretty quiet the entire journey. I figure he's just thinking or something.

"The Cavern of Roscamar is just over the ridge at the top of the valley," Razzle tells us. Okay, so now we know where we're heading, I guess.

"The Cavern of Roscamar!" Nick exclaims behind us in an _I just remembered something!_ tone. "According to legend, that was - "

"- the last known location of the Earth Guardian!" Razzle finishes for him.

The three of us stare at the cave. It seems pretty empty and has a pretty intimidating vibe to it. The entrance to it has the head of some kind of being carved into the rock. "Bad news - no Ancient Guardian!" Lucas says disappointedly.

"Good news - no Magmion either," I point out to him.

"Yeah, tracking his magic signature now!" Jessica tells us as she projects her image in front of us before shrugging as she reveals, "It's kind of weird-o-rama! He hasn't moved from the valley!" Okay, that _is_ weird!

"Toby," Nick says as he steps forward and I turn to face him. "Tentaclion emerged from the sea to rescue Troncalion, right?"

"Yeah," I reply, trying to work out where Nick is going with this. "It was like he knew his Ancient brother was in trouble."

I follow Lucas to the edge of the pathway and we look down onto the beach where Troncalion - I think I'll stop with the whole Trunky thing now - and Tentaclion are waiting with Drakkon circling overhead. "So Magmion doesn't need to _find_ the Earth Ancient," Lucas deduces. "He only needs to bring the Ancients close enough to lure him out."

That explains the whole staying in one place thing then. I still don't get why that one place has to be that specific valley. All of a sudden, I hear Lucas say uncertainly, "Uh, Nick? Earth to Nick?"

I turn around and see that my little brother has gone completely rigid and has an almost vacant expression on his face. "Dude, you okay?" I ask, concerned.

"The Ancient, he's close," Nick says, his voice barely above a whisper. Razzle lets out a startled cry and Nick's voice gets slightly louder as he adds, "I can feel it!"

"He's here?" Razzle asks, a nervous tremble in his voice.

"Yes," Nick replies, "and his name is Roscalion!" Suddenly we hear a roar that causes Lucas and I to gasp. The next thing I know, a huge creature that resembles a rhino comes charging out of the cave we presumed was empty. Guess this Roscalion dude is really good at hide-and-seek! Roscalion charges between Lucas and I, causing us to cry out as we quickly move aside. The huge creature leaps over the edge of the ridge and I catch sight of its massive club-like tail. Definitely don't wanna get hit by _that!_

"I'm telling him to stop but...he's compelled to help his kindred!" Nick yells to us as he watches Roscalion slide down the ridge.

"Then it's our destiny to help too!" Lucas declares as we join Nick at the edge of the ridge.

"Destiny?" Razzle exclaims. "I just realized - we're in Destiny Valley, the most magically charged place in Gorm!"

As though timed to perfection, Jessica projects her image in front of us. "Guys," she begins in a _you're not gonna like this_ tone. "I did some cross-referencing with some scrolls and I've got _bad_ news! The Earth-bound rifts we're seeing are symptoms of an impending portal!" The three of us gasp in shock at this news - it wasn't _bad_ , it was outright _terrible!_

We turn our attention back to the Ancients. Roscalion starts charging towards the others when Tentaclion's thin yellow tentacles wrap around his neck, effectively stopping the Earth Guardian in his tracks. He then tugs hard, attempting to knock Roscalion off his feet but only succeeds in dragging the huge creature sideways a few feet. I guess Roscalion's pretty hea- hey, like Lord, like Guardian, right?

Next Troncalion slowly steps forward. Roscalion starts charging and he returns the favor. They collide with a bang and a bright yellow glow surrounds them. As Roscalion struggles, Magmion sees his opportunity and wraps the golden rope around the Guardian. Roscalion rears up onto his hind legs, letting out a fierce roar. When he stands on all fours, we see a collar just like the ones the other Ancients had been enslaved with.

We exchange looks before Nick jumps down from the ridge, Lucas and I following his lead. "Four Ancients in Destiny Valley," Magmion begins as the collars begin to glow yellow, getting brighter and brighter. "A combination of power to make a portal to _your_ world!" he says as a single beam of light, formed from the glow from the collars, shoots up into the sky and seems to expand. "I can't wait to see what it's like so I can destroy it!" he declares before adding tauntingly, "Go on, try and stop me!"

"Uh, guys," Razzle says to us nervously. "Even _you_ are no match for the combined power of the Ancients!"

"It's not the Ancients we want!" I say as we all look up at the sky. Rings of light are forming from the beam and are getting bigger and bigger.

After Razzle jumps down from Nick's shoulder and hides behind a rock, I run forward and release a blast of water from my stomach, aiming for Drakkon. However, Tentaclion fires some sort of green icicle-shaped things at the attack to dissipate it before it can hit.

I turn to watch the others attempt to attack. Nick transforms his right arm into a hammer and lets out a yell as he hits the ground with it, creating a huge crack that heads in the direction of the Ancients. Roscalion's eyes glow red before the Ancient Guardian digs his horns into the ground, creating some kind of rock barrier.

Lucas, unfortunately, doesn't seem to have much luck either. He fires off one of his bark-like fists with vines attached but Troncalion leaps on top of the vines before they can reach their intended target.

"My army of Ancients is invincible!" Magmion boasts.

We watch in horror as the rings of light form an image of - wait, is that Venture Falls? "We've got to free them from those collars!" Nick exclaims.

"Easier said than done!" I say, looking at him while remembering my struggle to break the collar that enslaved Tentaclion.

Suddenly Lucas gets a lightbulb expression on his face - you know, the look someone gets when they've had the most brilliant idea. "I've got a theory," he begins as Nick and I look at him curiously. "Like the dogs in the park, one is leading the others - Drakkon!" The ground starts to shake as the three Ancients start charging towards us and we yelp as we nearly lose our balance. The whole ' _dogs in the park_ ' thing kinda confuses me but I think I get what he's saying. "We destroy Drakkon's collar - it will deactivate the other collars!" he finishes. Sounds like a plan to me, though I'm kind of wondering what they got up to back home for Lucas to be able to make a connection between dogs in the park and the Ancient Guardians.

With that said, Lucas fires a bark-like fist at Drakkon but it sails past. However, it does succeed in distracting both Magmion and Drakkon, allowing me to shoot a blast of water from my stomach that hits the collar, causing it to break apart as Drakkon lets out a furious roar. Nick fires sharp rocks out of his hand, causing the jewels on the pieces of collar to shatter.

As the Ancients continue charging towards us, we see the collars breaking apart. They were no longer under Magmion's control. The rings of light in the sky disappear as they reach us. I guess Magmion won't be taking a portal to our world any time soon! Speaking of Magmion...

"My Ancients!" he yells at us angrily. "You stole my Ancients!"

Lucas retaliates by saying, "The Ancients don't belong to you or anyone!" You tell him, dude!

I climb up onto Tentaclion's back and hold my arms out for balance again while Nick and Lucas climb onto Roscalion and Troncalion respectively.

"No," Magmion admits begrudgingly. "But my Lava steed is still loyal to me!" He laughs as Drakkon releases a stream of fire towards Nick and Roscalion who was charging forwards. Nick leans over Roscalion's side and transforms his right hand into a drill before drilling into the ground to form a rock barrier that stops the fire from hittting them.

Seeing Drakkon fly overhead gives me an idea. As though he can read my mind - though I guess he actually _can_ , in a way - Tentaclion holds his thin yellow tentacles out. I jump onto them and he uses them to propel me into the air until I'm as high as Drakkon. Wasting no time, I fire a water blast at the dragon who makes an irritated shrieking noise as he spins around in mid-air to avoid getting hit. After that, I started to fall but Tentaclion grabbed hold of me and set me back down on his back.

The maneuver leaves Magmion and Drakkon directly in the path of Lucas and Troncalion. Magmion screams as Drakkon collides with a charging Troncalion, sending both Lucas and Magmion flying while Drakkon crashes to the ground.

Eventually, Lucas and Magmion hit the ground, both of them grunting as they do so. Magmion stands up, unaware that we are behind him. Lucas smirks at us and Magmion turns around to be met with Roscalion and Tentaclion, neither of whom sound very happy. "One of these days, Super Gormiti, I _will_ learn your secrets and when I do, you will bow to me!" he vows. Yeah, good luck with that, Magmy! I don't _have_ any secrets! Unless you count that time I cheated on a te- oh, wait, he means about who we _are_! Never mind. "Come, Drakkon!" he says, running past us and jumping onto Drakkon's back. "We live to fight another day!" he declares before they finally fly away.

"Should we go after him?" I wonder aloud.

"No," Lucas answers. "Our work is done here. The Ancient Guardians are free." With that, the Ancient Guardians make calls, as though they were thanking us.

"Welcome back to Gorm, guys," Nick tells them.

Jessica projects her image in front of us, looking apologetic. "I hate to break up the reunion, guys, but your orbs are all looking pretty empty!"

"We'll be right with you, Jess!" Lucas says. "Just give us a minute."

I turn to Tentaclion. "Take care of yourself, okay, buddy!" I say, patting the top of his head. He croons slightly. "Yeah, I'll take care of myself too, don't worry!" I tell him before he croons again, causing me to cry out mock-indignantly, "Hey, what do you mean that only makes you worry more?" Hey, I guess it's only his duty as a Guardian, right?

I look at the others who seemed to have finished saying their goodbyes. Together we step back and watch as the Ancients leave. We call out:

"Goodbye!"

"See you later!"

"Until we meet again!"

After they have left, Jessica gates us back to Earth. Almost as soon as we set foot on the floor of the Primal Pad, her phone starts ringing. "Gina?" she says as we walk up to her. "Okay, we're on our way!" She then turns to us after ending the call. "Gina's waiting for us outside," she informs us. "We're gonna find out just how much we earned today!"

We leave the Primal Pad and walk out of the front door to see Gina patiently waiting for us on the street. She hands Jessica the money and we all watch as she counts it. Finally, she looks up, seeming pleased. "That's a pretty good haul for a day of dog-walking!" she exclaims happily, causing us all to stare at her incredulously while Nick and Lucas gasp for some reason. Seeing the looks on our faces, she shrugs and sheepishly adds, "Until you split it five ways."

"There's barely enough here for a makeup kit!" Gina complains. "Much less a dress and shoes!" There's definitely not enough here for _Skullblasters 360_ either!

Just then, we see a TV van rround the corner and gasp in surprise as it stops right outside the house. A blonde woman with green eyes opens the door and steps out, microphone in hand. "Excuse me," she says. "You're the kids that fought off that lion in the park today, right?" She walks up to us and holds out the microphone.

Lion in the park? _What_ lion in the park? I have no idea what's going on right now. Lucas apparently does, though, answering, "Uh, yeah?" in a hesitant tone.

The woman smiles at this. "In that case, I'm Sonia Vincent from Venture Falls News and I'd like to pay you for an exclusive interview!"

"Seriously?" Nick asks excitedly as Jessica's phone starts ringing.

"Hello?" she answers. "Oh, sorry, no, we're officially _out_ of the dog-walking business. We're getting into television!" She ends the call and we all laugh before Sonia excuses herself and heads to the van to get her equipment. "I still can't believe this!" she exclaims excitedly, practically bouncing up and down. "I actually get to be interviewed."

Lucas raises an eyebrow. "Don't you mean Nick, Gina and I get to be interviewed? You and Toby weren't even there!"

"Details, details..." Jessica says airily, waving her hand, though her face falls slightly with realization before lighting up again in a fraction of a second - it's actually kind of scary. "Hey, but since I helped start up the dog-walking business, I'm part of the reason the dogs were even in the park to fight off the lion in the first place!"

Gina laughs. "I think you'll find I'm the reason the dogs were in the park, Jess!" she says and Jessica smiles sheepishly.

"Uh, guys, am I the only one here who has absolutely no idea what's going on?" I whisper to the others.

"Oh yeah," Nick says. "I forgot you weren't there." He proceeds to tell me exactly what he and Lucas got up to while their orbs were charging up.

"Wow," I say disbelievingly. "I can't believe I missed _that_! It would have been way better than sports bloopers for sure!"

"It was terrifying!" Lucas agreed before smirking. "You do know you may not get interviewed since you weren't there," he informs me.

"That's fine with me," I say casually.

Jessica blinks, staring at me in horror. "Y-you're okay with not being interviewed?" she squeaks.

"Yep," I reply. Upon seeing her confused expression, I add, "Lucas is right - neither of us were there - and would it really be fair to take the credit for something we didn't even do?"

"I guess not," she says as Sonia returns and asks Lucas to introduce himself and the others. I hear her ask about Jessica and I then Lucas explains sheepishly with an apologetic look in our direction that we weren't there when it happened.

They walk into the house to have the interview and we call out, "Good luck!"

I honestly can't help feeling relieved that I won't be interviewed for another reason. Since the fiasco with the play - which I hate recalling with a passion - I've never been fond of doing something that I know will have an audience watching. It's not stage fright. I just don't enjoy the possibility of being laughed at for something out of my control. I like people laughing at something I _want_ them to laugh at, you know like a prank.

"I still wish I could have been on TV too," Jessica says dispiritedly. "Oh, well."

"It's not the end of the world," I tell her in an attempt to cheer her up. "Maybe someday you'll be on TV for something even better!"

She manages a small smile and I hear mutter something that sounds an awful lot like, "Wish I could feel important enough to do something that amazing..."

I frown slightly, wondering why her normally infectious optimism seems to have turned into crippling pessimism. "You are important, Jess," I tell her. " You _are_! You've got to believe that!" I start wondering if things are really okay with my best friend - knowing the issues she has at home with her parents, though I get the feeling there's so much I don't know - and resolve to keep a closer eye on her. For all of her light-hearted and flighty behavior, I know that she's absolutely terrible at telling people she's upset, preferring instead to keep things bottled up.

"I'm not sure I _can_ believe it," she admits after a while, "but it's nice to know _you_ believe in me."

"Of course! You're my best friend and friends have each other's backs no matter what!"

That was a promise I had no intention of breaking. Ever.

AN: Sorry this is a little later than planned but I haven't really been sleeping right so I'm pretty much constantly tired.

I was originally going to save the "Toby starts to feel concerned about Jessica" part of the BlizzardStormshipping subplot for quite a few chapters. However I decided to sow the seeds early but he won't get _really_ concerned until the chapter I originally planned to reveal it (and there _is_ a reason for his concern - it's hinted at in one of the earlier chapters- but you'll have to wait and see to find out what it is. It's very sad.)

Hope you guys enjoyed the chapter and see you next time!


	10. Chapter 9 - Outsiders

_AN: Welcome to another chapter. I hope you've been enjoying this story so far. If so, let me know in a review! :-)_

~••~

I smirk delightedly at my latest prank. It was bound to give me something to laugh about. All I had to do was persuade one of the others to walk into it. I head inside the house and see the others standing in front of the TV, each of them wearing a pair of boxing gloves.

"Guys!" I yell, waving my arms to get their attention. They look at me in confusion so I add, "You've gotta see this! Weird stuff is falling from the sky!"

To my bemusement, they simply look back to the TV screen, avidly watching the boxing match taking place. As one of the competitors is knocked out, I figure that maybe the others just didn't hear me so I try again. "Guys?"

"Come on, Toby," Jessica, who was wearing red boxing gloves, says. "We _all_ know this is just a set-up for another one of your pranks!" She pretends to throw punches at an invisible opponent.

"What is it this time?" Lucas asks, also throwing punches. "Door knob shocker? Automatic wedgie?" I narrow my eyes at his suggestions. My pranks aren't _that_ bad! Right? He turns and gives me a sympathetic look as he places his hands on my shoulders. "Don't tell me it's another fish in the pants? You've gotta get new material!"

"No, seriously!" I exclaim, as I grab his arm. I have to get one of them to trip my prank or it'll be completely worthless! "This isn't a prank! You've gotta come outside _right now_!"

Nick smirks at Lucas. "Maybe one of us _should_ go look!" he suggests as he and Jessica look at Lucas. I grin and rush out to the front door and wait impatiently. This is going to be good!

Lucas reaches me and I gesture to the door. "After you!" I say, grinning.

"Okay," he begins as he opens the door, "so where's the-" he cuts himself off with a scream as the bowls I had balanced on top of the door falls and empty their contents all over him. Two of the bowls land on the floor but the third remains on his head like a hat.

"Tag, you're it!" I declare before I swipe some of the mixture off of him with my finger and taste it. "Canadian maple!"

Nick, Jessica and I walk out onto the porch laughing. See, my pranks _are_ funny! However Lucas doesn't seem to share our amusement, saying, "Oh, you think this is funny?"

Jessica manages to compose herself enough to say, "You would, too, if it wasn't you wearing the food!"

Nick and I continue to laugh as Lucas responds, "Yeah, of course, but it _is_ me!" while Jessica lifts the bowl off his head. He then addresses me with, "You said this wasn't a prank!"

"It isn't!" I insist, grinning widely. "It's a work of art - the Human Pancake!" I give him a side glance before saying, "Come on, don't you have any appreciation for art?" as I walk down the steps of the porch and stand on the path while Nick laughs.

"Well, it _is_ more impressive than fish pants!" Lucas admits begrudgingly.

"Exactly," I declare as I hit my fist against my open palm, "and just wait until my masterpiece is ready - and the ducky's quack shall be the sound of your doom!"

"This masterpiece is going to be pulled on _Lucas_ again...right?" Jessica asks me nervously. I smirk slightly. The beauty of being a prankster is that you can target _anybody_ and they may not even know until the prank has actually happened.

This, of course, prompts Lucas to protest with an indignant, "Hey!" but we soon find ourselves distracted by something happening across the street.

We gasp as we see a young man is complaining to a police officer about his car which looks like it's seen better days - in fact, it looks like it's been completely flattened. "There, you see," he says, gesturing to the flattened vehicle. "It fell out of the sky onto my baby's hood!" The officer looks rather bemused as he takes notes while the man continues, "I want somebody arrested - jet pilots, moon men - I don't care! Somebody's gotta pay!"

"Weird stuff falling from the sky?" Nick wonders aloud.

Hey, so I was right! Weird stuff _did_ fall from the sky! "Ooh, maybe I'm a psychic!" I say before holding up my hands and waggling my fingers. " _Fear my powers_!"

"It could just be a coincidence," Lucas says. Yeesh, way to rain on my parade, dude!

" _I'm gonna say no!"_

I turn around and scream, along with the others, as I see Razzle holding one of the bowls over his head. He must have been hiding underneath it. "Why do you _do_ that?" Nick says, once he's recovered from the shock.

"What? You don't like the drama?" Razzle says before his face turns thoughtful. "Speaking of which, is that normal in your world?" he asks, looking at the flattened car.

"Shirtless guys with gold chains?" Jessica responds, with clear disdain in her voice. "Unfortunately, _ick_ , yes!" Somehow I don't think questionable fashion statements are what Razzle meant.

"I _meant_ the falling meteorite!" the lizard says impatiently.

"Not usually," Lucas tells him. "Trouble in the Gorm?"

"Wouldn't be here if there wasn't," Razzle confirms before narrowing his eyes as he peers more closely at Lucas. "You lose a fight with breakfast?" This question causes Lucas to groan before we head inside to go down to the Primal Pad.

Once inside, we gather in front of the screen as Razzle stands on the control panel and begins his explanation. "Something weird's going on with the Air Gormiti's floating fortresses!" The image on the screen shows several floating rocks in the sky surrounding a bird-shaped mountain. "Not sure what's up but it's opened another dimensional rift!" the lizard continues as the image shifts to show Volcano Mountain. "Now your world's got falling meteorites and who knows what else?" The image on the screen changes once more to show the previously mentioned falling meteorites.

"Yeah, because meteorites isn't enough," Jessica says once we've run to stand around the Gorm Gate.

Razzle shrugs. "You know these dimensional rifts - they don't stop at half an apocalypse! So go find out what's going down in Air Gormiti town!"

"Elementals!" we cry out together.

"Air!" Jessica begins.

"Water!" I yell.

"Forest!" Lucas calls.

"Earth!" Nick finishes.

"Reveal to us the Keeper and give to them your chair!" we chant as the chair begins to spin around.

"And the Keeper is..." Razzle begins as the spinning chair slows to a stop, a green icon with the forest symbol on the back "...Forest!"

I see Nick who had been eagerly rubbing his hands together, looking forward to being the Keeper, raise his hand in excitement before slumping over when he realizes he hasn't been chosen. "Tag, you're _not_ it!" I say gleefully, pointing at him as he looks disappointed.

Lucas walks over to the Keeper's chair and sits down before it rises, bringing him level with the control panel. He waves his hand over the crystals and exclaims, "Man, I _love_ the part with the light show!"

Nick jumps into the Gorm Gate first with Jessica, Razzle and I following close behind. We land on what I assume to be one of the floating fortresses. After all, as I stand up, all I can see around me is sky and clouds. Lots of sky and lots of clouds.

"Alright," Lucas says as he projects his image near us. "The Travel Tome says you're smack on top of one of the Air Gormiti's flying fortresses!"

"Yeah," Jessica says, still kneeling, as she looks down. "Pretty sure the Tome's right on that one!" I start to wonder how high up we are and decide to test it out like any rational person would - by spitting over the edge. I hear Jessica gasp before she says " _Toby!_ " in a scandalized tone.

I lean out over the edge and cup my hand over my ear. "I didn't hear it hit bottom yet. You guys hear anything?"

Apparently, they hadn't but suddenly we all hear grunts as two Gormiti appear out of nowhere, locked in a fierce brawl.

The first had a bird-like face and white feathered wings so I guess they must be an Air Gormiti. The second, I can tell immediately, is a Lava Gormiti but he doesn't look like one we've ever encountered before. As he and the Air Gormiti land on some jagged rocks, he opens his mouth and speaks with the weirdest sounding voice I've ever heard.

"The stone is mine! Your people are doomed, Solitary Eagle!" He then adds, "You know, even if I wasn't so good at it, I'd still love evil!" before letting out an evil laugh. Seriously what is it with these guys and their evil laughs?

"That's Spider the Cruel, chief stooge to the Volcano Lord Magmion!" Razzle informs us, looking nervous. "They don't even have a word for how bad he is!"

"Super-mega-evil-istic-psycho-banana-vicious!" Nick says immediately, looking rather proud of himself before accidentally dropping Razzle as he shrugs. I groan - that had to be his worst made-up word yet!

The Air Gormiti - or Solitary Eagle, I think Spider called him - suddenly lets out a fierce cry before taking off into the sky and flying towards Spider who jumps away from the rock at the last second, causing Solitary Eagle to crash into it, sending chunks of rock flying everywhere.

Spider then releases some kind of green fluid from his mouth and fires it at Solitary Eagle who flies up to avoid it.

Lucas projects his image in front of us and I declare, "I bet that one's the bad guy! Lucas?"

"Already working on the glow, bro!" he tells me as he winks.

We turn our attention back to the fight as Solitary Eagle lands on top of Spider, knocking him to the ground. Spider, however, raises one of his arms - which has a hook on the end - before kicking Solitary Eagle away with one of his feet.

"By the law of nature," Solitary Eagle declares as he recovers. "I command you to return the stone!" He lets out a bird-like screech as he flies towards Spider, crashing into him and knocking him to the ground.

"How close are we to tagging in?" I ask Lucas. Watching the action is fun and all but I want in on the action!

"You've got glow!" Lucas confirms.

"Elemental powers flow, Gormiti - Lords of Nature, go!" the three of us cry out together.

"Powers of the Sea!" I yell as I transform and let out a roar. "Alright! About time!" I say once our transformations are complete.

Nick and Jessica run forwards and I make to follow them when Lucas projects his image in front of me, stopping me in my tracks. "I'm sorry," he says sarcastically, "but maybe I could move quicker if I didn't still have maple syrup stuck in my armpits!"

"Hey, sometimes you gotta suffer for your art!" I tell him as I wink. Lucas doesn't seem too pleased about this, though.

"Suffer for my art?" he snaps, looking irate. "Did I _ask_ to be living breakfast food?"

I shrug and run forward, releasing a blast of water from my stomach. It hits Spider who cries out as he flies backward. Solitary Eagle turns around. "Who are-" he asks in confusion upon seeing us.

"Don't worry," I say confidently as we run past him. "We're professionals!"

I watch as Nick drills into a rock wall with his right hand which is shaped like a drill, holding the rocks that fall from the wall in his left. "Jessica!" he calls. "Serve's up!" He throws the rocks at Jessica who creates a gust of wind to blow them towards Spider. However, Spider jumps up, avoiding them completely and the rocks crash harmlessly to the ground of the fortress.

Lucas projects his image in front of me again which gives me an idea. "You know what'd cheer you up?" I say happily. "Somebody else getting pranked!" I wink at him.

"Is it really a good time?" he asks, looking doubtful. Hey, when is there ever a _bad_ time for a prank? Now I just need to figure out _who_ to prank!

"It's _always_ a good time!" I respond before running forwards. Spider laughs as he starts crawling away while Nick and Jessica give chase.

Jessica prepares to fire an attack before suddenly crying out as I wrap my tentacles around her eyes, completely obscuring her vision. "Toby!" Nick yells disapprovingly. Hey, who doesn't enjoy the blindfold trick?

"Guess who?" I say as I wave and wink. However, it seems I might have been _slightly_ wrong about the whole 'no bad time to pull a prank' thing.

Jessica, despite being unable to see, fires off an attack anyway which hits some pointed rocks, causing them to crumble apart. Nick and I gasp as chunks of rock rain down, forming a huge dust cloud.

When it clears, we see Jessica partially trapped under the debris. Okay, _that_ wasn't supposed to happen! What's worse is that Spider is looming menacingly over her, causing her to let out a startled scream. "Jessica!" Nick, Razzle and I yell in horror. Mental note: _don't_ pull any more pranks that could potentially get someone crushed under falling rocks!

"You know, I could melt you out of there," Spider says casually. "Smile for the acid, sweetie!" _Acid?_ Did he say acid? He is _not_ actually going to melt her out of there...is he?

Just then, we hear a voice yell, "Taste the hammer...of Fiery Hammer!" A second Lava Gormiti with a massive right hand seems to have appeared out of nowhere, which confuses all of us, even Spider apparently. However, he doesn't really have time to be confused because the mysterious Gormiti punches him away from Jessica as he says the last part of his declaration. He then leaps forwards and sends himself and Spider tumbling off of the edge of the fortress.

Nick and I run towards Jessica who is still laid beneath the rocks. "Jessica," I say, crouching down to the side and silently checking her over for any injuries. Luckily she seems to be unhurt but she looks incredibly confused and, after what just happened, I don't really blame her.

"Did I just get rescued by a fire guy?" she asks as Nick begins moving the rocks away. She narrows her eyes and mutters, "I am so never gonna get this world!"

"No sign of 'em!" Razzle pipes up, peering over the edge. "I guess the danger's over for now." Just then, we feel the fortress shake rather violently and Razzle repeats in alarm, "I _said_ I guess the danger's _over_ for now!"

"No," Solitary Eagle says suddenly. "It's just the beginning." The three of us gasp and turn to face him as he explains. "The jewel Spider stole was one of our Falcon Stones!"

Nick lets out a surprised gasp. "The mystic gems that keep the Air Gormiti's flying fortresses in the air!" he says quickly. I look at Jessica - who looks just as confused as I am - before we both stare blankly at Nick. "I read, okay," he says in explanation. Well, that explains it.

"So no Falcon Stone means..." Jessica begins nervously.

"...crashy-crashy ouch boom!" I finish for her.

Suddenly the fortress begins falling at an incredible speed, causing us all to scream as we cling on for dear life. "You - female!" Solitary Eagle, who is flying near the fortress, shouts. Wow, I don't think Jessica's gonna appreciate that somehow.

"You - right, the name's Jessica," she responds.

Giving no sign that he had heard her, he continues, "You can fly. We can carry your friends to safety."

"What about _your_ people?" she asks him as she passes Razzle to Nick by the tail. "We can't save them all!" Suddenly she gasps. "Wait, maybe _I_ can! Eagle, come with me!" She then calls to Nick, Razzle and I. "Guys, hang on!" What else does she expect us to do?

Nick and I cling on to the rock tightly as Jessica and Solitary Eagle fly beneath the falling fortress. We can't see what's happening but after a while, the sensation that my stomach has dropped out of my body starts to calm down somewhat. "She's slowing it down!" Nick yells over the roar of the wind.

Sure enough, we aren't falling as fast as before, which certainly explains why I no longer feel like I'm on a ride at a theme park. We find ourselves able to kneel down, no longer having our legs dangling towards the sky. "Way to go, Jessic- ow!" I cut myself off mid-sentence and yank my hand away, rubbing it slightly. "The rock - it just got super hot!"

Nick peers closely at the rock which is glowing red and has steam rising from it. "It must be the wind resistance," he deduces. "Like a space shuttle re-entry!"

"So our choices are being crushed or fried?" Razzle says nervously. "Can I get a third option?"

"Actually, yeah," I tell him as I've just had an idea. If water can cool down lava, it'll be able to cool down the heated rock. Razzle, looking hopeful, nods his head, and I stand up before releasing blast after blast of water to cool the rock down.

After a while, I begin to feel quite worn out. Suddenly the fortress starts falling at an increased speed, causing us to scream as it plummets straight down. We hold on tightly as it hits the ground with a crash before finally being able to set foot on solid ground again by jumping down from the fallen fortress.

Jessica runs to stand in front of us, now back in human form. "She - she did it!" Nick says.

"And just in time," Lucas informs us. "She's out of glow!"

We watch as Solitary Eagle peers closely at Jessica. "And now she turns into a strange small girl-creature again?" he says, puzzled.

"Yes," Jessica answers, pointing to herself. "And the _creature's_ name...is still Jessica!"

Solitary Eagle looks even more confused as he asks, "What kind of bizarre magic is this?"

Nick and I start moving forward as Jessica marches towards us before we stop. "Magic that wouldn't have been necessary if _somebody_ " here she shoots me a disapproving glare "hadn't done that tentacle blindfold thing on me," her glare gets more intense and, despite the fact that I tower above her right now, I find myself involuntarily wanting to take a step back - an angry Jessica is not fun to deal with "letting Spider get away with the Falcon Stone!"

"No harm, no foul, right?" I say casually, rubbing the back of my head and grinning. Nobody's been hurt so what's the problem?

"I am very confused about your combat technique," Solitary Eagle addresses me directly. "How does covering an ally's eyes help win the battle?"

"No, see, it's not a _combat technique_!" I try to explain. "It's a joke! You know - like pull my finger!" As I speak, I stick out my index finger and grin.

"Certainly," Solitary Eagle accepts as he reaches for my finger with his hand and adding, "although I fail to see what purpose-" He pulls my finger and I let out a loud burp. Classic! I double over, laughing. "Why would you do this?" he asks, sounding completely baffled. Guess this guy doesn't really have a sense of humor, huh?

"Alright," Razzle says from atop my head, cutting me off mid-laugh. "The immediate crisis is over. Now we've got to track down Spider and find out why he wants the Falcon Stones!"

"Bonus mystery," Nick adds, walking up beside me. "Maybe discover who the heck that _Hammer_ guy was!"

Lucas suddenly projects his image in front of us. "Jessica's _got_ to have an orb recharge before we do anything," he informs us. "Toby could use one too!"

Razzle jumps down from my head to my shoulder. "Guess that means it's _you_ sticking around here, kid!" he says to Nick.

"So what you're saying is - I'm being...chosen for something?" Nick says, the eagerness in his voice evident.

"Nick, it's no big deal," I say, holding my hand up and he frustratedly growls at me.

"Would you _let_ me have my moment?" he demands.

"You guys ready?" Lucas asks us as he prepares to gate Jessica and I back to Earth. We both nod and move away from Nick. I reach for Jessica's hands as we stand opposite each other.

The portal forms over our heads and we rise up into it. I feel myself change back into human form, seconds before we rise through the Gorm Gate.

We walk towards Lucas who lowers the chair, turning to face us. "Tentacle guess who blindfold? Pull my finger?"

"What?" I say, coming to a stop in front of him. "They can't all be masterpieces!"

I fold my arms as Lucas adds, "I mean I like practical jokes as much as the next guy. I'm just saying maybe it's started going too far like..." he pauses suddenly before asking, "...is your house quacking?"

Quacking? I can hear it distantly but then that means... "The quack of doom!" I exclaim after I gasp and hold my head with both hands. "My masterpiece! But nobody's there to trip it! It's all gonna go to waste!"

I dash out of the Primal Pad before anyone can say another word and run out into the garden.

Immediately I spot the toy boat being blown towards a yellow balloon by a rubber duck being hit repeatedly by a spatula that was attached to a water wheel. The pointed tip of the boat's mast gleams tauntingly as it gets pushed closer and closer to the balloon.

"No!" I yell, holding my head in my hands before frantically running over to the pipe that has water rushing out of it and pushing it so it tilts to the side.

The water wheel stops spinning and I watch as the boat stops moving, mere inches from the balloon. I slump over and gasp with relief. _That_ had been too close!

"So," I hear Jessica's voice say and I look up at her. When did she get here? "Is _that_ your masterpiece?"

"I don't know," I answer as I walk over to her. "Why don't you come out and see for yourself?"

She glares at me and exclaims, "Yeah, like anybody's gonna be dumb enough to trip your prank _now_!" I glare right back at her, noting that her hands have balled into fists. Despite the fact that I'm kinda mad at her right now, I can't help thinking that when she's mad, she's pretty - no, no, _stop_.

I had put down the weird thoughts I had about her during the judo tournament and the raffle down to the heat of the competition. Yet, even now with no competition occurring, I'm _still_ having them! It's frustrating because I have no idea _why_. It must be because...because... the grass is too green! Yeah, that's definitely it. What else could it be?

As we continue to stare each other down, I ready myself for a comeback, unwilling to let her have the last word again. Suddenly we look up in surprise as Dad exclaims, "Eh-di-oh, Toby, my man!" I look behind me to see Dad holding two paper bags in his hands as well as Geo sniffing around the water wheel. "Thought I heard you back here! Hey, you wanna give me a hand? Papa's got a new cookbook!" I watch his gaze fall on the water wheel and see his confused expression. He moves one of his shopping bags to his other hand and asks, "Since when did we get a water wheel?" He reaches out with his free hand. Uh-oh...

"Dad, no!" I yell, holding my hand out to stop him but he pokes the water wheel slightly. This causes the spatula to hit the rubber duck whose quack releases air that pushes the toy boat the last couple of inches towards the balloon. The resulting bang can be heard through the megaphone, causing Geo - who was stood right in front of it - to whimper. "Everybody get down!" I exclaim before I duck for cover.

I glance sideways at Jessica as she crouches down next to me, a frown on her face as she watches what is happening in front of us. For some reason, it reminds me of what she said before about not feeling important. However, she hasn't yet done or said anything else to indicate what the problem is if there is one. I know that the absolute last thing I should do is confront her about it. Not straight away, at least. For one thing, I don't know what the problem is. Another thing is that, if she somehow works out that I'm concerned about her, she might clam up altogether - or worse still, try too hard to convince me that she's fine. She's done it before. I know her too well...

I don't really have the time to dwell on these thoughts, though. Geo is barking frantically and rushing around while Dad wobbles about in an attempt to avoid being knocked over. "Hey, Geo!" he exclaims, hopping from one foot to the other as Geo rushes around, knocking things over, including the water wheel.

I wince as Dad's foot slips on a bar of soap which flies up into the air and lands on a spring, sending a rubber fish straight onto his face. He cries out and blindly stumbles away before grunting as he collides with the greenhouse. The impact causes the paddling pool on the roof to empty the water I had filled it with onto him, knocking him off his feet.

Jessica gives me a disapproving glance as we stand up. For a split second, though, her face twitches as though she wants to smile. Hey, if my prank stops her from thinking those pessimistic thoughts, then how can it be a bad thing?

I walk over to Dad and pull a deflated inflatable off his face and he spits water out of his mouth, looking rather worse for wear. He is completely soaked - hair, clothes, and shopping - and he looks rather stunned. "It's art?" I say nervously as Jessica and I pull him to his feet. "Here, Dad, let me get the water off you!" I look around for something I can use. "Um, I don't have a towel or anything but-" I walk away as I remember the rubber duck - it might not be as effective as a towel but it's all I can think of. I return with the duck and place it on his shirt, squeezing it as it sucks some of the water off his clothes.

"Hey, Mr. Tripp," Lucas says and we all turn our heads to face him. I move the duck - which is now filled with water - away from Dad's shirt as he continues, "I found out something about... the _thing_ , t-that place that we have to go," I smile to myself as I place the rubber duck in my jeans pocket - who knows, it may come in handy! - "to now! Like, right now!" Lucas finishes, grinning nervously as he points towards the house.

I blink at him before looking at Dad. "Sorry, Dad," I say. "You know how Lucas is about saving the manatees!" I add as Lucas starts walking inside the house and I cling onto Jessica's arms as she follows him, trying to ignore the tingling that occurs in my fingers as they make contact with her skin. Great, at this rate, I won't even be able to touch her without something weird happening! I stop for a moment to tell Dad, "I'll clean up later! Bye!" before rushing to catch up with the others. My fingers are still tingling and I wriggle them continuously as we head back down to the Primal Pad, much to the others' confusion. What is this girl _doing_ to me?

Lucas leads us to the bookshelves and opens one of the books to a page that has pictures of bird-shaped stones - the Falcon Stones, I'm guessing. "So I looked up those Falcon Stones in the tomes," he begins before turning the page. "Turns out they're not just good for the Air Gormiti's citadels! They can be used to lift _any_ big landmass into the sky!" Wow, who would've thought a couple of stones could do _that?_

"And if Spider's been stealing them for Lord Magmion," Razzle adds before looking nervous. "I've got a bad feeling I know what they're gonna raise with the stones!"

Lucas walks back over to the control panel and sits down in the chair while Jessica and I run over to the Gorm Gate and jump in, Razzle jumping in after us.

We land somewhere in Lava territory and see Nick and Solitary Eagle standing nearby, looking out at Volcano Mountain, and walk over to join them. Jessica repeats to them what Lucas had told us. Solitary Eagle looks thoughtful before saying, "Volcanoes!" So _that's_ what they're planning on raising? Should've guessed, huh?

"Lots of 'em!" Jessica confirms. "Magmion uses the Falcon Stones to lift them up in the sky then down comes fiery lava rain to burn the whole world!"

Lucas projects his image in front of us. "Tell 'em what else we found, kid!" Razzle says.

"Huge lightning storms in Australia," he informs us. "More meteorites hitting North America and trees _melting_ in South Africa!" He sniffles, "Poor...trees!", looking distraught.

"The planet's gone nuts!" Razzle tells us, looking frantic. "It's getting worse and that means the rift's widening. You've gotta stop Spider and Magmion before _both_ our worlds get torn apart!"

"I just have one question," Nick says.

"Uh, shoot?" Razzle tells him.

I watch as Nick walks over to me, looking pretty mad and I think I know why. "You pranked _Dad_?" he snaps, poking me with his finger. "Can you say _way too far?_ "

"It was an accident!" I protest as he glares at me before Lucas projects his image near us again.

"Hold on," he says, holding his hands up and we look up at him. "If we're going into Magmion's home turf, we're gonna want all the help we can get!" I don't get what he means. We _already_ have Solitary Eagle. What other help could we need? "We still haven't found that Magma Gormiti who saved Jessica from Spider!" Oh, yeah, _that_ guy! To be honest, I'd completely forgotten about him. "Somebody should track him down - see if he's on our side!"

Well, it isn't going to be me! "Track down a Magma Gormiti when there's a volcano to storm?" I say, unimpressed. "That's lameoid work! Who'd wanna get stuck with _that_ job?"

"I nominate the pull my finger child," Solitary Eagle announces suddenly. Pull my fin- wait! He means _me!_

"What? Guys!" I protest, looking at Nick and Jessica as they smirk at me. Clearly, they both agree with Solitary Eagle. Well, that's just _great!_

"I've already charged the orbs," Lucas says before addressing me directly. "You should go Super Gormiti now, Toby, in case you run into trouble!"

At the moment, all I can think about is how they get to save the world and I have to miss out! Nick slaps me on the back, causing the rubber duck in my pocket to squeak. "Sorry, Toby, but maybe a solo mission will give you some time to think!"

I frown. " _Think_!" I exclaim, narrowing my eyes. "About what? I don't think!" I walk away from them to the edge of the cliff and yell, "Powers of the Sea!" as I transform before walking away.

As I wander through the forest, I start to wonder what Nick meant by ' _giving me some time to think'_. All I can think about is how unfair this is. "I think I don't like being left out. That's what I think," I say to myself before sighing as I sit down, cross-legged. "I guess I should probably learn _something_ from this!"

 _"For one thing, you should learn to watch your surroundings!"_

I look up and see that the speaker is none other than the Lava Gormiti I am looking for. I immediately back-flip onto my feet before transforming my right hand into a giant claw. I rush at this _Hammer_ guy and attempt to hit him with my claw then my other hand but he deflects each of my blows with his massive hand, catching my other hand afterward. I manage to grab his left hand, which is considerably smaller than his right, in my claw and we struggle against each other. "I thought you were only supposed to _look_ for me, not pound me silly!" he says suddenly.

Wait, what?

"Wait," I say, puzzled. "How did you know-" Then I frown. "You were spying on us back there? Then how come you didn't come out and talk to all of us?"

"Oh, I _planned_ to," he tells me, to my surprise. "But when I saw how your friends treated you, I knew you would be the one to understand my...situation."

As he says this last part, he finally lets go of me and takes a step back before continuing, "You see I, too, am an outcast. The details are... _unpleasant_ but the day Lord Magmion banished me, he made a powerful enemy!" I listen to him, silently wondering what he could have done to make Magmion banish him but I don't bother asking - it's not really my business _and_ I wanna keep him on side. "One who could be a powerful _friend_ to your cause!"

I smirk. "Friends are good!" I say. "I like friends!" For a moment, I think of Nick and Jessica, knowing neither of them would approve of what I was about to say. "So what do you have in mind?"

The Lava Gormiti looks momentarily surprised but recovers quickly. "I couldn't stop Spider from taking the Falcon Stones to Magmion," he tells me, regret in his tone as he points in the direction of Volcano Mountain. "But I _do_ know a secret entrance to his volcano. Who knows? We may defeat Magmion before your friends even show up!" he smirks.

Now _that's_ an idea I like! If I defeat Magmion single-handedly - well, with this guy's help too, I guess - it'll prove to the others how good I am. "A couple of outcasts save the day, huh?" I say before smiling. "I like it!" I hold my claw arm out to him. "I'm Toby, Lord of the Sea!" I introduce myself.

"Fiery Hammer," he says, shaking my claw with his massive hand. He gestures for me to follow him and I do so, walking behind him as he leads the way through the forest.

Eventually, we reach the Lava territory and I see a narrow elevated pathway that winds its way to a blocked cave entrance. When we get to the end of the path, I watch Fiery Hammer push aside the boulder blocking the entrance with ease.

"Is there anything cooler than a secret entrance?" I ask myself as I secretly attach the rubber duck to his back. I have a feeling it may just come in handy. "No, there is not," I conclude as Fiery Hammer leads the way inside the volcano. After a second, I follow.

We reach a room that's large and unbearably hot. I see Magmion and Spider. This is awesome! I'm totally gonna save the day!

"Spider, I'm _bored_ ," Magmion complains as his fellow Lava Gormiti places two Falcon Stones on a small perch. "Why does fiery vengeance from the sky always _take_ so long?"

"The Falcon Stones are nearly in place, y-your greatness!" Spider says eagerly.

"Good," Fiery Hammer says. "We're not too late!" He then turns and asks me, "Have we beaten your friends here?"

I glance around before pointing and whispering, "There! They found a way in!" I see Solitary Eagle standing on one ledge while helping Jessica down to the next ledge where Nick was standing. I'm glad they're okay, at least. "Come on!" I say excitedly. "If we're gonna be the heroes, we gotta hurry!"

"I couldn't agree more!" Fiery Hammer says but something about his tone seems...different. His right hand begins to glow a bright yellow before he jumps down to a lower ledge and slams his fist into some lava. I watch in horror as burning rocks fly through the air falling not only into the lava beneath Magmion and Spider but also hitting the rock wall behind Nick and Jessica. I hear their screams as part of the wall crumbles, trapping them as well as Solitary Eagle.

"What the- what are you doing?" I yell, moving forwards. Suddenly Fiery Hammer picks me up before tossing me to the ground.

"Never trust your enemies, _boy!_ " he says. I really am the stupidest person on the planet. Why couldn't I see his act was all just that...an act? I should've known Fiery Hammer didn't really want to help save the day. Well, it's a good thing _I_ do! Right before I lose consciousness, I think I understand now why I was sent on this solo mission. It was to help me remember where my priorities lie and right now, my main priority is to help save the Gorm!

When I wake up, I see that I am in a room with bars made out of lava. I fire a couple of water blasts at them but they evaporate upon contact. I look down at Nick, Jessica and Solitary Eagle who are sprawled near me. Thankfully none of them seem hurt.

Eventually, Solitary Eagle raises his head and looks at me with confusion, evidently wondering why I'm there. As I stand up, I gasp, "Guys, you're alive," watching as they sit up and stare at me, looking equally confused. "And _I'm_ alive! These are all good things!"

"Toby, what are you doing here?" Nick asks, rubbing the back of his head.

Before I even get a chance to explain - not that I'm sure I would have been able to - we gasp as we hear Magmion's voice and listen in.

"Did the word _banished_ mean nothing to you, Fiery Hammer?" he asks.

"Banished is such an ugly word," Fiery Hammer protests. "I belong here...among the flames!"

Spider cuts in suddenly. "Don't listen to him, Master! We don't _need_ him!"

"Maybe," Fiery Hammer admits. "But I'm sure you'd love to unwrap the _presents_ I brought!"

It doesn't take too long for me to realize that _we_ are the presents he's referring to. Why did I even trust this guy?

"Did I say _banished_?" Magmion says after a short while. "I believe I meant...welcome home, brother!"

Fiery Hammer chuckles and Spider voices his displeasure by making some kind of hissy-growly sound. I guess he doesn't like Fiery Hammer all that much.

I turn to the others. "Guys, come on! You've gotta transform already" I say. "This magma cage is too hot for my water powers but maybe Nick's earth powers..." On the last part of my sentence, I turn and point at Nick as I speak.

Lucas projects his image in front of us. "Orbs are still full and ready!" he informs us.

"No," Solitary says suddenly, stepping forward. "We can't risk a fight around the Falcon Stones!"

"It'll be okay. Just trust me," I assure him before addressing the others. " You guys were right - I needed some time to think. And from now on, my powers will only be used for good!"

"What is _that_ supposed to mean?" Nick demands as he and Jessica frown at me, their arms folded.

"It means I've got the stones covered, okay?" I reply, grinning at them. They glance at each other before they both wink and a glow surrounds them as they start to transform.

When they've finished transforming, Nick raises his fist and turns into a giant hammer before smashing a hole in the wall. "Looks like your presents are about to open up on _you_!" I call as we see the shocked faces of Fiery Hammer, Spider, and Magmion.

"Get them!" Magmion commands, pointing at us. "I'll take care of the Falcon Stones!"

Spider and Fiery Hammer obey, jumping forward to engage us in battle with the latter yelling, "You've been a great ally, Toby, Lord of the Sea! But now it's time to dissolve our partnership!"

His massive right-hand starts glowing yellow and he punches it into the ground. Once again, dozens of burning rocks start flying through the air. I let out a cry as they hit me and send me flying backward. I wince as I lay on the ground, pain running through my body. That _hurt_.

I feel somebody gently place their hand on my chest. My heart starts beating that tiny bit faster and the tingling feeling I had felt earlier returns, except this time it's a _lot_ more intense. "Hey, that's my brother!" I hear Nick yell suddenly.

Opening my eyes, I see Nick raise his hammer arm before charging towards Fiery Hammer. I also see Jessica kneeling in front of me, a concerned expression on her face. As soon as she sees that I'm awake, concern turns to relief before she pulls her hand away. Much to my confusion, for a moment, she looks a little flustered but it disappears so quickly I figure I must be imagining things again.

As she helps me up, I glance at her, silently apologizing for everything I put her through today. All she does, however, is smile slightly and shake her head. If anybody else had been in my position, they wouldn't have understood what she meant but I understand perfectly.

She's telling me that there's nothing to apologize for. She's already forgiven me.

The moment is broken when we hear Spider yell, "But Solitary Eagle, you're missing the fun!" Jessica runs over in their direction as Spider jumps onto Solitary Eagle's back and drags him back down to the ground.

I run up to watch what's going on. Jessica runs up to Spider in an attempt to help Solitary Eagle but Spider kicks her away, causing her to yell, "Nick, trade your bad guys?"

Nick raises his fists which are both shaped like hammers and slams them into the ground while Jessica knocks Fiery Hammer off his feet with a wind attack.

I watch as Solitary Eagle manages to throw Spider off of himself. Unfortunately, Spider recovers quickly and pins Nick to the ground. To my horror, he then raises one of his arms above Nick and begins to rotate the black claws on the end at blinding speed.

Acting quickly, I wrap my tentacles around Spider. "And that's _my_ brother!" I yell angrily before tossing him away. He hits the rock wall with a thump. He'll definitely be feeling that one in the morning! I grin at Nick, knowing that I must have, at least, slightly made up for being a complete and utter idiot today.

Just then, we hear Magmion start laughing. The next thing, we know is that the volcano starts shaking as it starts to rise up into the air. We watch as he continues to laugh, standing in front of a blue glow that seems to be coming from the Falcon Stones.

"You take him high, I'll take low," Solitary Eagle tells Jessica.

"Ew!" Jessica exclaims in disgust. "I don't wanna be anywhere near _that_ face! I call low!" They take off from the ledge, leaving Nick and I alone.

"And now begins Lord Magmion's reign of fire!" Magmion declares before crying out as Jessica and Solitary Eagle swoop towards him and carry him away from the stones.

Solitary Eagle looks back at Nick and I. "Get the stones!" he yells. However, before we even have a chance to move, we find ourselves being pushed to the ground.

Fiery Hammer jumps onto the platform, yelling, "Too late!" As he raises his arms, causing the blue glow to reappear again, he declares, "Now Fiery Hammer controls the Falcon Stones! And once I flood this world with molten fire, Lord Magmion himself will kneel at my feet!" He laughs as we see Jessica and Solitary Eagle struggling to keep hold of a very angry Magmion.

Lucas projects his image between Nick and I. "Guys, you're almost out of orb," he tells us. "I don't think you can beat him again!"

I think I understand now. For Fiery Hammer, this was only ever about revenge, for what Magmion did to him. The whole _saving the world_ thing was just a joke to him. Well, Hammer guy, I'm afraid this time the joke is on you!

Fiery Hammer continues to laugh when suddenly the duck I had attached to his back begins to squeak repeatedly. "Where is that infernal noise coming from?" he asks, looking confused.

"Better check all your _quacks_!" I call to him. This is going to be my best prank of the day!

Fiery Hammer reaches behind him and holds the rubber duck out in his massive right hand. "You think this is _funny_?" he yells.

Well, it is, sort of. "No," I reply, holding my hand up so that I can take control of the water inside the duck. "I think it's still full of water! And _I_ control water!" I manipulate the water into a ball before hurling it at Fiery Hammer who lets out a cry as it hits him, knocking him to the ground as steam rises from him. "Never trust a prankster!" I say, as the blue glowing rings emitting from my hand begin to fade.

Suddenly Magmion manages to break of free of Solitary Eagle and Jessica's grip. The volcano begins to shake as he lets out a furious roar. I guess Magmy isn't too happy right now. The Falcon Stones fall off the perch right into Jessica's hands. "Thank you!" she says.

Seeing that the stones are now safe, Nick and I start running for the exit. We jump through one of the eye holes with Jessica and Solitary Eagle flying through after us.

We head back over to the crashed fortress and stand on it. Jessica hands the Falcon Stones to Solitary Eagle and we watch as he places them in a small room inside the fortress.

Immediately the stones begin to glow and the fortress slowly rises up until it's back in the sky where it belongs.

You have the thanks of my people!" Solitary Eagle tells us, as the other Air Gormiti stand behind him. "That was impressive strategy with the waterfowl hidden in Fiery Hammer's... _quacks..._ " A look of dawning comprehension passes over his face before he says, "Oh, I get it now!" He starts laughing heartily. Well, what do you know? Maybe this guy _does_ have a slight sense of humor after all!

"Time to go, guys!" Lucas says as he projects his image near us. "You're all almost out of glow!"

The three of us grip each other's hands as we rise up through the portal, yelling, "By the orbs of Gorm!" as we come out of the Gorm Gate into the Primal Pad.

I start walking towards the stairs. "I should go check on Dad," I tell the others before slumping over. "Gotta take my punishment sooner or later!"

I lead the way up the stairs, my shoulders slumped. I just want to get this over and done with. "You know, Toby," Lucas tells me as I open the pantry doors and step into the kitchen, "when you use your pranking powers for good, it's a pretty awesome sight to behold!"

"Yeah, but I think I'm cutting the pranks for a while," I announce. "I've gotten in enough trouble for my art!"

"You call _that_ art?" I hear Dad's voice call. Suddenly I feel something tighten around my ankle and I yelp as I get knocked off my feet. Next thing I know I'm being dragged out of the back door by a rope. I let out a cry as I get dragged through a puddle of mud before a bowl of porridge hits me in the face. Then a piece of cheese flies into my mouth. When it's all over, I find myself dangling upside down from a tree.

"Now _that's_ art!" Dad declares.

"Yep!" Jessica agrees. I watch as Paula Pinkney's cat walks over to me and starts licking the porridge off my head as Lucas says, "Beautiful!" Nick finishes up by adding, "Definitely!"

I can't believe I just got pranked by my own dad! I had no idea he could even pull pranks like that! Just think of all the new things I could learn - all of the new pranks I'll be able to pull! "Teach me, master!" I say as the cat sits down next to me, mewing happily.

I don't exactly know when they'll let me down. I kind of get the feeling they want to enjoy it a bit longer. Do I blame them?

Not really.

 _AN: Wow, I'm so sorry about the sporadic updates, guys! Having week-long migraines are **not** fun, let me tell you. I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter and see you next time!_

 _It would also help me out a lot if you guys would vote on the poll in my profile - it could potentially help me out with the next chapter. I will keep it open for a week and close it on Tuesday 6th February. Thank you all for your support :-)_


	11. Chapter 10 - Black Salt Diamonds

_AN: Hello, guys! Welcome back to ROTLON! This chapter will be the debut for my female OC so let me know what you think of her. She won't feature in every single chapter but she will make an appearance every now and again._

 _Oh, and just to warn you, I know little to nothing about football/soccer/whatever you want to call it - sport's never been something I've ever had an interest in._

 _Without further ado, enjoy!_

* * *

"You seem pretty confident, little bro!" I address my younger brother as I tie the laces on my football boots. At the moment, we are in the changing rooms, putting on our football uniforms in preparation for our upcoming match.

Nick, who was already changed, nods his head. "Of course! We're gonna win this, no doubt!"

Seeing the looks on our fellow team-mates' faces, it was clear that none of them shared Nick's confidence.

"We're playing the Bayside Beasts!"

"The Beasts? I heard they haven't lost a single game this season!"

"Their star player's super brutal!"

This last comment caught our attention. Everybody knew about Brutus Higgins, a student at Bayside High and member of the Bayside Beasts football team. He was well-known for his talent on the pitch as well as his stand-offish nature.

"Okay, gang, listen up!" Our captain calls us over. Like the rest of us, he wears a blue short-sleeved football shirt with red sleeves and a red "V" on the front, white shorts with a red trim, blue knee-length socks with white and black football boots. "Now I know we're playing the Beasts today but that doesn't mean we can't win! I have faith in each and every single one of you - yes, even _you,_ Enson. So let's get out there, warm up, and show those Beasts what the Warriors are made of!"

We cheer and run out of the changing rooms and head onto the soccer pitch. The Bayside Beasts are already there, practicing, as well as a few people in the stands.

Nick and I begin stretching to warm up. Unfortunately, after a little while, we both lose our balance and fall over backward. Well, that wasn't embarrassing at all!

I spot the rest of the team looking rather nervous as they look at Brutus who was practicing his shooting skills against the Beasts' goalkeeper. He scores goal after goal, one of them only happening because the goalie looks distracted. Nick and I gasp as we get to our feet. This match isn't going to be easy.

I lean in close and whisper, "You still so sure we're gonna win?"

Nick smirks. "I've been preparing for this game _all year_ factoring every last detail into my winning strategy!"

I gasp. "Even the _Brutus_ factor?" I ask as we watch Brutus leer at Sonny Enson, our goalkeeper. The poor guy is practically shaking in his boots as Brutus shoots and scores, despite Enson's attempt to stop it. The ball rolls in our direction and I stop it with my foot.

"My book has a whole _chapter_ devoted to the _Brutus_ factor!" Nick tells me. "I'm telling you, Toby, nothing's going to stop us toda- ow!"

A hailstone had hit Nick on the head causing him to cry out with pain mid-sentence as he fell over. Suddenly there was a huge downpour of hailstones. Everybody begins to run inside, except Nick who yells, "Hey, where's everyone going? It's nothing but a little..."

As I head back into the school, Nick runs to catch up with me. "I don't think we'll be playing today," I tell him. "Your 'winning strategy' will have to wait." He looks disappointed but nods, knowing full well that neither our captain or the football coach would allow a match to take place in these sorts of conditions.

Nick stops suddenly. " _What_ are you wearing?" he asks. I frown - he does realize I'm wearing the same thing _he_ is, right? - before I realize he is talking to Jessica who is standing next to Lucas.

"What?" she says in mock offense. "I can't support the team?" She is wearing the same style shirt as Nick and I, except the sleeves are shorter, a white skirt over blue leggings, white trainers, white wristbands and is holding a pair of red pom-poms in her hand. So, in other words, a cheerleading outfit.

"N-no, that's not what I..." Nick says nervously as she frowns at him.

"What he _means_ ," I interrupt before he can dig himself an even deeper hole, "is that you look great!" And cute. Don't forget cute. Because she definitely looks cu -why now? You know I'm not even sure why I argue with myself about these weird thoughts. I mean I know full well I'll end up thinking them anyway so why do I even bother?

Her face lights up immediately as she cheers up. "Thanks!" she tells me before she starts heading towards the girls' changing rooms. This reminds Nick and I that we're still in our football kits as we head inside the boys' changing rooms to get changed.

Once inside, my suspicions that we wouldn't be playing are confirmed by the captain who tells us that the game has been postponed due to the hail.

We get changed quickly before leaving the changing rooms and going to stand with Lucas who was leaning against the wall opposite the girls' changing rooms. I never understand why it takes girls so long to get changed - why do they have to talk so much?

Just as I feel like complaining that we've been waiting for ages, the doors swing open. "About time! We've been..." I abruptly cut myself off upon seeing that the person walking out isn't Jessica but someone I'd rather not see right now.

I press myself against the wall, hoping that she won't see me. Unfortunately, her loud squeal of my name and the sound of running footsteps getting closer just proves that the universe loves proving me wrong.

"Hi, Madison..." I say unenthusiastically as she stops in front of me, a huge smile on her face. Madison Verne is...interesting to say the least. I had met her one day last year. She had been crying about something - I had never asked what it was about - and I had offered her a tissue. Apparently, this act had gotten her... _interested_ in me because, since that day, she's been trying to ask me out every chance she gets.

She is relentless in her attempts, no matter how many times I try to tell her I'm just not interested - I've tried being direct _and_ indirect but she just can't take a hint.

"I thought I'd find you here!" she exclaims, twirling her brown hair around her finger. I note that she doesn't bother greeting Nick and Lucas, something else that bothers me about her. As soon as she spots me, it's as though she doesn't care that anybody else exists. If I liked her, I might have found it endearing but, as it is, it just annoys me. "It's a shame about the game, isn't it? I know you would have been awesome!"

"Yeah..." I say. "Look, Madison, not to be rude but I-" Suddenly she flings her arms around me - the girl absolutely has no sense of personal space! - and starts sobbing, much to my alarm. I keep my arms firmly by my side. No point in sending her the wrong message by hugging her back. Because I know she'd take it as me being interested, even though I'd only mean it as a friendly gesture if I were to do it.

"Those hailstones were so scary!" she sobs. "They totally ruined my make-up and everything! Just look at it - I had to completely redo it. Now you can tell me how pretty I look!"

Pretty? I guess that's a matter of opinion because her face is caked in so much make-up that, to me, she looks anything _but_ pretty - in fact, she looks pretty ridiculous. I don't feel right telling her that, though, even though it might get rid of her for a while.

I look to the side and see Nick and Lucas sniggering at me. "Thanks for the help, guys!" I mouth to them and they simply shrug at me.

"Look at what my mom got me!" Madison says and I turn my head to see her holding a pale pink umbrella with white polka dots. "Now we can walk home together! It'll be so _romantic_!"

Is it just me or does anybody else fail to see how walking home with a slightly obsessed - and that's being kind - girl in a hailstorm could be taken as romantic?

I hear the doors swing open again. Madison turns her head to see who it is before she turns back to me and says sweetly, "It's so nice to have a mom who actually _cares_. Wouldn't you say so too, Jessica?"

I manage to catch the disgruntled look that flashes across Jessica's downcast face, her body tensing up as she stalks towards us before smiling and saying just as sweetly, "Of course. Now, if you don't mind, we have somewhere to be." Madison makes no attempt to move and Jessica adds pointedly, "The _four_ of us."

The two of them glare at one another. I stand awkwardly in the middle, Madison letting go of me to get closer to Jessica. I frown as Madison whispers something to Jessica which causes her to clench her fists. She's getting mad. This isn't good. Nick and Lucas seem to have realized this too as they stop sniggering at my discomfort and walk over to us.

"Get lost, Madison!" Jessica snaps, uncharacteristically angry. Whatever Madison said to her must have really affected her because I don't think _I've_ ever made or seen her this mad before.

"Ooh, temper, temper!" Madison sneers, her attitude having completely changed, having gone from sweet and innocent to condescending and manipulative. "I'm only stating the facts, darling!"

"Well, save your facts for someone who actually _cares_!" Jessica yells before grabbing my arm - ooh, and the tingling feeling returns! - and adding, "Come on, guys, we're leaving _now!_ "

I don't exactly plan on arguing as the four of us head toward the exit at the far end of the corridor. Madison actually has the gall to call after me, "I'll see you around, honey!" Honestly! She has _pet-names_ for me now? Jessica's grip on my arm tightens for some reason as we leave the corridor and make our way to the front entrance of the school so we can start walking home.

The hail assaults us as soon as we take one step out of the building. It's unpleasantly cold and it takes all of our willpower to keep putting one foot in front of the other.

I glance at Jessica and see that she is smiling, though it looks rather forced to me, it seems to convince the others that she's fine. I'm also sure I hear her mutter, "I can't _stand_ that girl!"

Well, that makes two of us.

Nick decides to diffuse the tension by going over his game plan for the match. After a while, his voice sounds like a droning background hum as I remember something from the encounter with Madison.

The way Jessica had reacted when Madison spoke about her mom caring. It seems that I was right - the problem, whatever it is, _definitely_ has something to do with her mom. I suspect Madison doesn't actually know this, though - she probably just said it to get some sort of reaction.

Then there's whatever Madison whispered to her. I don't have any idea what she could have said and I don't think Jessica will tell me if I ask. All I know is that it was clearly something she didn't want to hear. She reacted far worse to that than she did to the whole mom jibe, though she hadn't looked happy when she came out of the changing rooms in the first place.

As our house comes into view, I glance down and see our linked hands. Somehow, without either of us noticing, we had ended up holding hands. I know it's probably just a friendly gesture on her part, though she had grabbed my arm back when Madison had successfully gotten to her. I'm not sure what this all means. I do know, however, that - tingling aside - holding hands with Jessica feels a lot nicer than having a hug forced on me by a girl I have no interest in whatsoever.

Nick continues to talk about his strategies, though I seriously doubt any of us are actually listening. I squeeze Jessica's hand lightly to get her attention and she jumps, much to my amusement. Maybe she hasn't realized we've been holding hands this entire time. I pause for a moment as I try to work out exactly what it is I want to say. We end up walking behind Nick and Lucas, who don't seem to have noticed the hand-holding. "I don't know what it is Madison said to you," I begin slowly, trying to gauge her reaction. She looks at me but doesn't try to interrupt. "And I know you probably won't tell me even if I bug you about it every day for ten weeks!" She giggles slightly at this. "I guess I just want you to know...if she ever says anything bad about you, it's not true! Nothing she could ever say about you would be true. You're worth so much more than she thinks..." I trail off slightly as I see her expression. Oh, no...please don't say I made things worse!

"Thank you," she whispers, looking at me and giving me a genuinely radiant smile. This girl makes me feel so much. Wait, what am I saying? She's my _friend!_

"What are best friends for?" I say, smiling back at her. Seeing her happy makes me happy too. She nods absentmindedly before looking down at our hands. The resulting squeak confirms that she _hadn't_ known about the hand-holding, even though _she_ was the one who initiated it!

"I-I'm so s-sorry!" she stutters, dropping my hand immediately, much to my disap- wait, no, _don't_ think that! "I-I d-didn't realize..." I don't understand why she's so nervous and why her cheeks look bright red. All we'd been doing is hold hands. I didn't get it. She sure does confuse me sometimes!

"Hey!" Nick's impatient shout cuts through the air as we walk up the front steps and stand on the porch, finally out of the hail. "Have any of you guys even been listening to a word I've been saying?"

Judging from the awkward silence that follows, I think we can safely say that none of us have been listening. Heck, I tuned him out back when we first left the school! Once Nick gets started on something, it's nearly impossible to get him to stop so unless you learn to tune him out early on like I do, you run the risk of ending up with a headache due to information overload.

Nick apparently decides that we need to know what he's been saying to us all this time as he says calmly, "So the freakish weather may have caused a _hail_ delay but that just gives us more time to go over the game plan!"

I have to seriously control the urge to roll my eyes as I sigh before complaining, "Again with the game plans? Haven't we gone over them enough?" Seriously I had to listen to his game plans _all morning_. If _that's_ not enough to drive a person crazy, I don't know what is!

As I walk to the other side of the porch, Nick, undeterred by my lack of enthusiasm, continues, "Should we start with Plan A...B...C...oh, I know - Plan double-Z!"

I have to laugh at this. How many gameplans does he _have?_ "There's a Plan double-Z?" I say incredulously. "You've really gotta get a life!"

Sensing that Nick is going to start explaining what Plan double-Z _is_ , I search for something to distract myself. Going over strategies repeatedly is not something I enjoy the thought of but...building a _hail_ man is! I start gathering hail and work on building the body and head as Nick explains behind me, "Plan double-Z is my secret weapon!" He then adds, "Lucas, I need you and Jess to pretend to be the opposing team!"

Jessica suddenly lets out an irritated growl, which prompts a confused Lucas to ask, "What are you doing?"

"Being _Brutus_!" she responds as though it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Close enough," Nick tells her before calling to me, "Hey, Toby, come practice!"

"Practise-schmactise!" I say as I start adding more hail to my hailman's body. "You know me - I'm an _in the moment_ kinda guy! And right this moment, I'm building my _hailman_!" I stand to the side, allowing them to see my creation in all its glory.

"Come on, Toby!" Nick says impatiently, holding up the ball and I watch as he walks to the opposite end of the porch. "I pass the ball to you," he explains but I decide that finishing my hailman seems more interesting so I turn my attention back to it. "Then you headbutt it past the opponent-" he continues before I hear Jessica cry out followed by a loud thud. "Toby!" he yells suddenly. I let out an angry cry as the ball bounces off of my hailman's head and spring to my feet.

"Nice play!" I snap, glaring at Nick. "You almost de-headed my hailman!"

" _Phew!"_

I turn back to my hailman and scream as I see Razzle perched on top of the head. Razzle returns the gesture before diving inside the hailman's head and peeking out nervously. He lets out a cry as the hailman begins to wobble before it collapses completely, causing a loud thud. Well, it had a good life, I guess.

The front door suddenly flies open as Mom and Dad look out. "What was that?" Dad asks frantically as they look at the pile of hail on the porch.

"Nothing!" the four of us say in unison, trying to look and sound innocent.

Mom looks at us, frowning. "You know, you're not supposed to play ball on the porch!" she scolds. Tell that to Nick, not me.

I figure since Razzle has shown up that there must be trouble in Gorm. To get to the Primal Pad, though, we need to get Mom and Dad out of the way. But how? I spot the hailstones and then I see Dad's car. A-ha!

"Look!" I cry out suddenly, pointing to Dad's car. "I think a hailstone just crashed through Dad's convertible rooftop!"

Dad lets out a worried cry before he and Mom rush to the front of the porch, leaning over the railing. "Hmm, the car looks fine," he says, confused.

"Maybe you should go and check!" I suggest.

The others seem to have cottoned on to what I'm trying to do as Nick adds, "We're gonna go in and, uh, study!"

The four of us rush inside before Mom or Dad can say anything and we head straight to the pantry. As Lucas closes the doors behind us, he lets out a cry of pain. "Ow! Something's poking me!" he complains.

I spot the culprit almost immediately. "It's Nick's playbook!" I exclaim before asking, "Why didn't you just leave it?"

Nick grins at me. "We might _need_ it!" he insists. Well, if he says so.

We wave our hands across the panel one at a time to gain access to the Primal Pad before running down the steps.

Once down there, we stand in front of the control panel. The screen shows an image of the sea as Razzle begins his explanation. "There have been several disturbances in the Sea Nation! The activity appears to be centered around the Isle of Del Mar! The ocean in that area is freezing at an alarming rate!" The image on the screen changes to show the sea partly frozen with ice.

"So whatever's happening there is causing a _major_ hailstone-age here!" Jessica deduces.

"And postponing the big game!" Nick exclaims disappointedly before sheepishly adding, "which is much less important right now!"

Razzle paces across the control panel as he says, "I'm afraid the trouble in the Gorn is more serious than your soccer competition!" Nick and I blink at him. "Several Sea Gormiti have disappeared!" Oh, boy, that doesn't sound good!

"What do we know about the Isle of Del Mar?" Nick asks curiously.

"Not much," Razzle replies. "Except it is rumored to have a black salt mine nearby."

I'm confused. "What's so dangerous about a salt mine?" I ask the lizard.

"I'm not sure," Razzle tells me. "But black salt is believed to be _very_ powerful! We don't have time to waste!"

The four of us run to stand around the Gorm Gate before we call out together, "Elementals!"

"Air!" Jessica begins.

"Water!" I yell.

"Forest!" Lucas shouts.

"Earth!" Nick finishes.

In unison, we chant, "Reveal to us the Keeper and give to them your chair!" as the Keeper's chair starts spinning.

"And the Keeper is..." Razzle announces as the chair slowly comes to a stop with an orange icon with the Earth symbol on the back "...Earth!" He walks over to Nick, who is smiling widely, and says, "You're finally going to get a chance to show us what you can do!"

"Alright!" Nick exclaims as he starts walking from his spot, still clinging onto his playbook. "I'm going to prove to you all that gameplans and strategy are the key to success!"

As he reaches the top of the steps, I point out, "I'm guessing you don't have a plan in your playbook for _this_ situation!"

"Are you kidding?" he exclaims as he slides across the shelves on the ladder, having climbed up after getting up the steps. "I'm ready for _every_ situation!" He looks for a book on the shelf as he tells us, "The secret to any victory is proper planning and, most importantly, being prepared for every event!"

I have a feeling this rant of his is going to go on for a while. When I look at Jessica and Lucas, I see that their expressions are mirroring mine. By this point, I think we all just want him to hurry up and open the Gorm Gate already. Nick, seemingly oblivious to our disinterest, runs and jumps into the chair which rises up, bringing him level with the control panel.

"Now," he continues as the chair moves up, " _some_ people think they can get by by just reacting _in the moment_." Okay, I know he definitely means me, there. But what, exactly, is wrong with not wanting to plan out every single little thing? "But it's _strategy_ that makes the difference!" he adds as he begins to manipulate the crystals to activate the Gorm Gate. He finishes off his mini-rant by saying, "So if you guys just follow my plan, we're going to be victorious!"

As the Gorm Gate finally opens, Lucas looks at Razzle. "You coming?" he asks.

The lizard shakes his head. "I'm cold-blooded - I don't do ice!" he says by way of explanation.

With that, Lucas jumps through the Gorm Gate, Jessica and I following seconds later.

We land on top of an icy cliff. Nick says to us, "Our first priority is finding those missing Sea Gormiti."

As we peer over the edge, we discover that it won't be too difficult. "You can stop now, Nick!" I call to him as I look down. Frozen inside the cliff we are standing on top of are three Sea Gormiti soldiers. "I think we found them!"

After a moment, Nick announces, "You're good to glow!"

"Elemental powers flow, Gormiti - Lords of Nature, go!" the three of us yell together.

"Powers of the Sea!" I shout as I transform, letting out a roar.

The three of us leap down from the cliff so we are standing in front of the frozen Sea Gormiti. Well, we'd better get them out of that ice, I guess.

I transform my right hand into a claw. "Okay, frozen dude, I'm coming to get you!" I say.

I gasp as Nick projects his image beside me and says, "First thing in our gameplan, we gotta get those guys out of there!" I groan at the word _gameplan_ \- I'm getting sick of hearing it. Not to mention, freeing them is what we were about to start doing!

"Good plan!" I say sarcastically before I move forward. I smash my claw against the ice hard while the others also attempt to break the ice.

"Wish I was a Fire Gormiti," Jessica says. "I could just melt right through here!"

As I continue to work on getting the ice to crack, I hear Nick asking, "Jess, how's the _chipping off the old block_ coming?"

"Hmm, looks like a swan!" Jessica replies cheerfully. Without stopping my movements, I look up momentarily and see that her efforts to break the ice have, somehow, created a carving of a swan instead.

"Better get cracking!" Lucas tells us as we continue to work on freeing the Sea Gormiti.

" _Who dares interfere with my plans?"_

We turn around and see a Sea Gormiti standing on top of what appears to be a frozen wave. I should know his name but I'm coming up blank. Hey, I can't remember _everything!_

"Nick, who _is_ this guy?" Jessica asks.

"And, more importantly, how do we stop him?" I add.

" _Nothing can stop me!"_ the Sea Gormiti declares. " _Not_ them _and certainly not_ you!"

We look at him in confusion as Razzle announces, "That's Quarry, the Sergeant of the Seas!"

"He's the guardian of the abysses," Nick adds. "Respected by all, surveyor of all he sees."

"Does it mention anything about him being super mean?" Jessica asks as she frowns.

"He can be a ruffian but I don't remember him to be _so_ aggressive!" Razzle responds nervously.

"Yeah? Well, something's sure gotten him riled up!" Lucas points out as Quarry begins to glow green and lets out a cry as a huge wave rises towards us.

"Hold on!" I yell to the others.

"Look out!" Lucas shouts just before the wave completely washes over us.

I manage to jam my claw into the ice and feel the others clinging onto me for dear life as the wave rushes over us, attempting to wash us away with it.

Once the wave has passed, we climb back up onto the ice. "Not to worry!" I hear Nick say.

"Easy for _you_ to say!" Lucas gasps in response. "You're not the one being tipped into the icy seas!"

The three of us stand up, Jessica and I looking down at Lucas before we all look across at Quarry. I doubt he's going to be too happy that his attempt to get rid of us didn't go so well.

I jump down and land on a platform of ice before glaring at Quarry as I release several globes of water in succession. However Quarry counters by firing a green beam out of his hand and, to my surprise, as soon as my water globes make contact with it, they freeze instantly. I gasp before saying, "He's freezing my water globes before I even get a chance to shoot them!"

"The tomes don't mention anything about Quarry's freezing powers!" Nick tells me, confused, as he projects his image beside me.

"Well, he's got 'em now!" I say. Maybe the others will fare better.

Jessica uses her wind powers to open up a hole in the ice. Suddenly Quarry fires the same green beam he used against me and it instantly freezes the water that had started to rise up out of the hole. "Hey!" she cries out. "How did he know I was going to _do_ that?"

Lucas tries next, running forward and aiming his fist at Quarry. This time Quarry fires the green beam from _both_ hands and Lucas grunts as his fist begins to freeze up. "I've heard of cold feet before but never a cold _fist!"_ he says.

"No one is allowed near the Isle of Del Mar!" Quarry declares angrily as he jumps down with a flip onto a pillar of ice. "Now you will face the same fate as the other warriors who have crossed my path!"

Lucas suddenly lets out a startled cry. "I'm freezing up!" he shouts before he attempts to fire off his frozen fist. Quarry once again fires two green beams from his hands and knocks Lucas to the ground. He then fires a single beam at Lucas' feet which begin to freeze instantly, the ice moving rapidly up his legs and arms. "Guys?" Lucas calls to us, nervously. "Guys?"

"Jessica, you gotta get Lucas outta there!" I say as I hold my hands up, releasing rings of blue energy from them. "I'll cover you!"

Jessica obliges and swoops down, attempting to pull Lucas free as Quarry fires two beams of green light at me. I struggle to keep him at bay and eventually his double beams are too much for the glowing energy rings.

The beams hit me and I cry out as I fly backward but I manage to cling to the edge of the platform. I look down and see that Jessica is struggling to pull Lucas free. I also see that a wave is heading towards them. "Grab him now!" I yell frantically.

With some effort, Jessica finally manages to pull Lucas free and flies upward just as the wave washes over where they had been just seconds previously.

"You got any other big plans?" I say as I continue to hold on to the edge of the ice.

"Guys, what's happening?" Nick asks suddenly. "Ice storms are hitting around the globe. Things are getting much worse here!"

"Well, they're not getting any better _here_ either!" I point out nervously, looking down.

"I can still figure out a way to win this one," Nick tells me. "Just give me a second!"

Is he crazy? "We don't _have_ a second!" I say pointedly.

The next thing I know, the three of us are rising up through the Gorm Gate. We shiver violently as Nick turns the chair around to face us and chuckles. "G-great s-strategy, b-bro!" I say through chattering teeth, grinning.

"See, told you strategy is a good thing!" Nick says smugly.

"Yeah, yeah..." I wave him off. "Anyway shouldn't we get moving? The rescheduled game should be happening anytime soon."

We leave the Primal Pad and head towards the front door. As soon as we're outside, the hailstones begin bombarding us once again. "Let's hurry!" Lucas suggests. "The sooner we're out of this hail, the better!" I think we all agree with that!

It takes us about five minutes to reach the school by power-walking. None of us really wanted to risk running in case we fell and got injured which, in myself and Nick's case, would be the absolute worst thing that could happen.

Once we reach the school, we head straight to the gym. "While the power orbs recharge, we can at least kill a little time with the rescheduled soccer game!" Lucas says as Nick moves to stand in goal.

"Maybe _that's_ one we can win!" I say, frowning, before running forward and kicking the ball. It sails right into the top right-hand corner of the goal, Nick letting out a grunt as he falls on the floor, his attempt to stop the ball having failed.

"Ow!" he says, disgruntled, as Jessica starts to pull him to his feet.

"I sure hope your plans for the soccer game are better than your plans for the Gorm!" I tell him as he's being pulled up.

"That's just it!" Nick exclaims, turning to face me. "My plans should have worked in the Gorm! Quarry's powers aren't like anything in the books!"

"He certainly wasn't like anything _I've_ ever seen before!" Jessica agrees, tossing the ball from one hand to the other and spinning it on her finger, before passing it to Nick.

Nick catches the ball and continues, "Nothing in the tomes mentions icy powers! He's stronger and he seems to know every move before we make it!" He fiddles with his glasses, as he sighs, "It just doesn't make sense!"

Just then, we hear a whistle blowing and the four of us gasp, realizing that the match must be about to start. "Game's about to start!" I say. "Let's just get through this. _Then_ we can figure out what's going on with Quarry!"

We walk out of the gym and head outside in the direction of the football pitch. The hail is still cascading down on us. When we reach the football pitch, we are all shivering once again. "I d-don't think we're g-gonna be playing again t-today!" I stutter as I look at the football pitch, which looks like it's completely covered in ice. Nobody in their right minds would want to play in _this_ sort of weather!

Three of the Beasts come running onto the pitch through one of the side tunnels and immediately begin slipping and sliding on the ice. They end up in a pile near one of the goals. We hear Brutus complain, "This place is so weird!" before they scramble to their feet and manage to get off the pitch and run down the steps, shivering.

The four of us walk down the same steps, all of us also shivering. "What?" I call after them. "You've n-never played _i-_ _ice_ soccer before?"

 _"Things are heating up - I mean freezing down - in the Gorm!"_

We turn to see Razzle clinging to the railing. "Let's get moving then!" I say to the others as Razzle jumps down onto Nick's shoulder.

Once we get home, we head straight down to the Primal Pad, Nick sitting in the Keeper's chair and activating the Gorm Gate once more.

The three of us jump through the portal and land in what looks like a frozen wasteland. I take a step forward and exclaim, "Oh, boy, you're not gonna believe this!"

"What's going on in the Sea Nation?" Nick asks.

We look around. There's hardly any _sea_ left! Most of it is frozen in ice. "More like the _Ice_ Nation!" Lucas says as he and Jessica step up beside me.

 _"You have returned to finish the job, I see!"_ We gasp and look around, seeing Quarry on top of an icy pillar. " _Not if I finish you first!"_ All of a sudden, he starts to glow a bright orange and lets out a fierce roar.

"Those globes better be recharged!" I say as I look at Quarry. "We're gonna need all the power we can get!"

Nick projects his image beside us. "I'll get you up and glowing asap!" he tells us. "Ready!"

"Elemental powers flow," the three of us say together. "Gormiti - Lords of Nature, go!"

"Powers of the Sea!" I yell as I transform for the second time.

Quarry looks angry. "You cannot defeat Quarry!" he declares, glaring at us.

"What's your playbook say about fighting an evil, energy-crazed Sea Gormiti?" I ask Nick as I stand up.

"Here's a recipe for black salt soup!" Razzle says after a while.

"Great," I say sarcastically. "We can all have some soup _after_ he freezes our butts!"

"Wait!" Nick exclaims suddenly. "Black salt diamonds are crystals formed by hundreds of years of compression in the salt mines."

" _Now_ I remember!" Razzle says in a _how could I have forgotten_ tone. "The diamonds give enhanced powers!"

Nick continues, "Quarry's power to command the sea becomes the power to turn seawater into ice and his enhanced sonar ability enables him to read minds. So he really _does_ know our every move before we make it!"

"Great!" I say. "So we know what's causing it. Do we know what to do to _stop_ it?"

"I've got to calculate a new course of action!" Nick informs us.

Quarry raises his hands in a _bring it on_ motion. He then fires a green beam out of them, forcing us all to leap in different directions to avoid being hit.

I roll over and land in a crouching position. Frowning, I declare, "I'm gonna go with the _no game plan_ plan!"

Quarry walks forward menacingly, still glaring. I leap over the ice that had been formed by the green beam and run towards him. He fires another beam but I jump over it and use my hand to slide myself around. I slide around him and he fires a third beam which I duck under. He gets more and more frustrated as I continue to slide around, this time firing two beams at me which I again avoid by leaping out of the way. He takes a few steps forward and fires yet another beam. I manage to stay just ahead of it before flipping myself over the ice that has formed. "Guess what I'm thinking?" I ask while I'm upside down. I flip so I'm right side up before leaping back.

"What do you call _that_?" I hear Lucas ask in an utterly confused tone.

Ridiculous!" Jessica replies. Neither of them seem to get it yet. Oh, well.

Quarry grumbles. " _You are a most aggravating foe!_ " he shouts angrily as he continues to fire the green beam at me.

I laugh as I practically skate around, avoiding his attacks. "You can't read _my_ thoughts 'cos I don't have _anything_ in my head!" I exclaim happily.

"He's actually _proud_ of that!" I hear Nick say. And, what's more, he's right.

I let out a cry as I leap towards a crack in the ice. "Well, well," I say as I land and see the water, "and what have we here?" I fire off a jet of water from my right hand which shoots towards Quarry, causing him to let out a startled cry as the water pushes him up into the air before surrounding him completely. I use my powers over water to move the water around as he cries out and struggles to escape.

"That's it, Toby!" Jessica calls. "You're running down his power!"

" _No!"_ Quarry exclaims. _"This cannot be!"_ I move closer and he lets out another cry as he drops to the ground, the spout of water disappearing.

The three of us approach him as he lays on the ground, panting. "W-who are you?" he asks, sounding exhausted and a lot less aggressive.

"Don't you remember what happened?" Lucas asks him as Jessica and I share a confused glance. Quarry, apparently, doesn't recognize us even though this is our second encounter with him today.

"I-I heard of a plan," he begins slowly, "by the Fire Gormiti...to steal the black salt diamonds. I didn't tell the others - I wanted to protect them." I guess by _others_ , he means the Sea Gormiti trapped in ice. "I thought I could just try some of the diamonds for myself. I knew it was wrong. But I thought the diamonds could give me the power I needed to be an army of one! After that, it's a blur..."

"So you don't remember anything about putting your buddies on ice," I ask him, "or trying to freeze us out?"

"No," Quarry replies. "As you can see, the black salt diamonds corrupt everything they touch!" He looks up at us dejectedly before adding, "Even me." He continues with, "If the diamonds were to fall into the hands of the Fire Gormiti, the world would be in great danger!"

" _Both_ of our worlds would be in great danger!" Nick, who has his image projected beside us, declares.

Quarry looks up and says, "I fear we are too late!" We gasp and turn around, seeing several Lava Gormiti marching across an icy bridge being lead by a familiar Lava Gormiti we haven't seen in a while.

"The frozen waves have created a bridge for the Fire Gormiti to cross!" I say.

"And we know where _they're_ headed!" Jessica adds, stepping up beside me.

"Orrore!" Razzle exclaims nervously from the projected image. "He is the _worst!_ I'm _so_ glad I stayed here!"

"Great!" Lucas says sarcastically.

"We _must_ protect the mine!" Quarry tells us as he walks away.

"We're going to have to hold the rest of them back!" Jessica exclaims before she flies upwards and unleashes dozens of sharp, white feathers from her hands. The Lava Gormiti cry out as they get hit, a few of them losing their balance and falling into the water.

I leap down in front of them. "Not so fast!" I say warningly. I stretch out my tentacles, wrapping them around two of the Lava Soldiers.

Lucas follows my lead by wrapping his brown vine around a third Lava Soldier's ankle. "Watch your step!" he advises.

The three Lava Soldiers cry out as we toss them into the water. However, the others continue marching forward, getting closer and closer to us. I swear I can hear a few of them laughing too.

For some reason, I can hear laughter behind me now too. I turn my head slightly, only to see Orrore with his right arm held up, preparing to fire an attack at me. I move aside and the fiery blast rushes straight past me, instead knocking four of the Lava Soldiers into the water.

Immediately we turn around to face Orrore who has a small boat filled with the black salt diamonds. He lets out another fiery blast and I resort to my earlier tactic of flipping around to avoid it. I stand on a lower level of ice as Orrore fires a beam of fire in front of me from the level above.

I hear a few cries above me and guess that one of the others must have taken out a couple more Lava Soldiers.

As Orrore continues to fire an attack near me, I exclaim, "With their super-fueled powers, they're _unbeatable_!"

Nick projects his image in front of me and I frown when I see he is holding his playbook. " _No_ team is unbeatable!" he insists.

"You really think your little playbook is gonna win _this_ one?" I ask him incredulously.

"I _told_ you," he replies, "with the right course of action, we can win _anything_!" I gasp and look around as he continues, "First we analyze the other team's weakness."

As the ice behind me begins to melt, I dive into the water. "They don't _have_ any weakness!" Lucas says.

"Unless they're _too fiery_!" Jessica says.

"You're right, Jessica!" Nick exclaims suddenly.

I pull myself up out of the water slightly and rest my arm on the ice as Lucas and I say together, "She is?"

We look at Nick's projected image in confusion as he points out, "Remember where you are - on an island surrounded by ice!"

I climb back up onto the ice and say happily, "So if we can just get our hot-footed friends off the island and back _on_ the ice - melty melty!"

We watch as the Lava Soldiers march to and from the mine. Those leaving are pushing wooden boats filled with black salt diamonds. "Plan double-Z!" Nick exclaims. "Toby, shoot your water globes and keep them coming!" No need to tell me twice!

I oblige immediately, firing several water globes at the Lava Soldiers who cry out as they get knocked in the water. Orrore starts looking around, confused, as more and more Lava Soldiers get hit by my attacks.

As they fall into the water, steam rises from where they have fallen. I continue my assault, pelting Orrore with countless water globes as he starts backing away before getting knocked to the ground along with a couple of Lava Soldiers. He sits up and irritatedly rubs his head.

"Nobody likes a ball hog!" Lucas exclaims suddenly as I prepare to launch another attack. "You're supposed to pass!"

"Glad someone remembers!" Nick says after I release another water globe. "Plan double-Z calls for setting the ball up for your partner before a headbutt straight into the goal!"

I produce another water globe and float it towards Jessica who headbutts it towards the Lava Gormiti. It hits Orrore directly and knocks several of the Lava Soldiers over.

I create another water globe and split it into two, floating them towards the others. "Score!" Lucas yells as he kicks the water globe like a football towards the Lava Gormiti.

"Hey, I kinda like _this_ game!" Jessica exclaims as she headbutts another water globe.

I continue to create water globes and offer some of them to the others who seem to enjoy pelting Orrore and the Lava Soldiers with water.

Orrore lets out an angry cry as he gets hit by one water globe after another. "Such insolence will not be forgotten!" he says, holding his arms over his head. I find it hard to take him seriously while I'm repeatedly hitting him with water globes.

"How can I help?" Quarry asks eagerly. I had been wondering where he had gotten to.

"You can lead your friends against the Fire Gormiti!" I tell him.

Quarry nods and walks towards the frozen Sea Gormiti. I look around and watch as he slams his hands against the ice which shatters like glass. "Fire Gormiti are attacking the mines!" he tells the Sea Gormiti. He and the two Sea Gormiti run forward and dive into the water.

Meanwhile, we continue bombarding Orrore and the Lava Soldiers with water globes. One of them knocks Orrore over as he is trying to run away but he gets back up and carries on running.

The Lava Soldiers run, pushing the black salt diamond filled boats ahead of them. We watch as the Sea Gormiti start grabbing them by the ankle and dragging them into the water.

This continues for a short time until Quarry surfaces and, together with the Sea Gormiti, punches the side of the ice bridge three times. The Lava Gormiti start whimpering fearfully as the ice starts to break apart. The ice floe holding the boat with the stolen black salt diamonds sinks beneath the water, much to Orrore's dismay. "My diamonds!" he yells angrily. "Noooo!"

"They will _never_ be your diamonds!" Quarry, who had climbed back onto the ice, says defiantly.

Orrore jumps up and hovers in mid-air, turning to face us before saying, "Maybe this time but we _will_ meet again!" He then turns and flies away in the direction of Volcano Mountain.

"What did I tell you?" Nick says cheerfully. "It's all about the winning strategy - _my_ winning strategy!"

"No way!" I tell him. "It wasn't _all_ you! What about my _no plan_ plan? Without it, we'd still be fighting Quarry!"

"Oh, come _on_!" he says. "You call _that_ a plan?"

I shake my head slightly and, along with Lucas, sit down on a small chunk of ice while Jessica stands next to us. We watch as Quarry and the two Sea Gormiti climb out of the water onto the small island of ice.

Just then the water starts to rise as a Sea Gormiti with tentacles for arms rises out of the sea. I eventually recognize him as Jelly Fish as he booms, "Who is responsible for this?"

"Boss," Quarry says as he and the two Sea Gormiti respectfully kneel on all fours. Meanwhile, the three of us stare in awe, too surprised to do anything except blink. "I was trying to keep the black salt mine secure but I now realize they are too powerful for any one person to guard! I never meant to turn on my own people!"

"We will discuss your punishment later," Jelly Fish says sternly. "From now on, the Sea Nation must work together to keep the black salt diamonds from the wrong hands." He then asks, "And who was responsible for driving the dreadful Fire Gormiti into _my_ seas?" as he lowers himself down to the Sea Gormiti's level.

"Our young friends!" Quarry responds.

Jelly Fish turns his gaze on the three of us before saying, "Then I have _you_ to thank for saving my people!" He then disappears beneath the water and, after a moment, Quarry and the two Sea Gormiti dive in after him.

"Let's go home," I say to the others as I stand up.

"That's something we _all_ agree on!" Lucas says happily.

As if on cue, a portal forms over our heads and we rise up into it, coming out of the Gorm Gate, now back in human form.

Nick jumps out of the chair, exclaiming, "Come on, guys, we need to be at the school for the re-rescheduled game!"

"At least this one shouldn't get canceled now the hail's stopped," Lucas points out as we exit the Primal Pad and leave the house to go to school after Nick and I grab our football kits.

We reach the school in no time at all. Nick and I immediately head for the changing rooms getting changed along with the rest of the team. The atmosphere inside the room is nervous anticipation - every single person in this room wants to do their best and, hopefully, put an end to the Beasts' winning streak.

The captain calls us over once we're all ready and says, "Listen up, boys, this may just be our most important game of the season. So when you're out on the pitch, I don't just want to see you giving it a hundred percent, I want to see you give it a hundred and _ten_ percent!" As we hear a whistle blowing, he quickly says, "Altogether now..."

"Go, Warriors!" we yell before we leave the changing rooms and head for the tunnel that leads out onto the pitch.

Nick and I exchange a determined glance before nodding to one another as Principal Morris begins to announce the start of the game.

 _"Hello, everybody, and welcome to this much-anticipated soccer game! It's been a long time coming!"_ Here he pauses to allow himself a chuckle. " _But, finally, today we have the undefeated Bayside Beasts!"_

We watch as the Beasts run onto the pitch out of the opposite tunnel with cheers from the crowd.

 _"And playing against them are our very own Venture Falls Warriors!"_

We follow the captain out onto the pitch, amidst excited screams and cheers from the crowd. They seem a lot louder - I guess everybody really wants us to win today. I look up at the crowd and see Lucas and Jessica sitting in the fourth row, Jessica once again wearing her cheerleading outfit. Both of them are cheering enthusiastically.

After the referee has explained the rules, a whistle blows to indicate the start of the game.

This is it.

 _Towards the end of the game_

We are playing well but, by the time the second half is almost over, our scores are equal with two goals each. Every time we score a goal, the Beasts counter with one of their own.

At the moment, I have possession of the ball, dribbling it down the field. "Plan double-Z!" Nick calls to me.

I continue to dribble the ball, avoiding one of the Beasts who attempts to intercept me but ends up sliding across the grass instead. I kick the ball and it bounces off of Brutus who smirks as he starts to do a few keepy-uppies with it.

Nick runs towards him and takes possession of the ball, dribbling it around a perplexed Brutus in a circle. "You're nuts!" he yells eventually, evidently confused by what Nick is doing.

"Nope," Nick says cheerfully, grinning. "That's my brother!" I feel so proud. My little brother taking a leaf out of my book - it's a sight I thought I'd never see! I watch as he kicks the ball and it sails straight into the goal. The Beasts' goalkeeper seems to have been so confused by Nick's earlier display that he hadn't even made any attempt to stop the ball from going in. "Goal!" he yells as the whistle blows.

The crowd begins to cheer loudly. We did it. We had bested the Bayside Beasts - three to two.

I walk up to Nick and we high five, both of us grinning madly. "Sometimes _no_ plan is the _best_ plan!" Nick says.

"Well done, bro!" I tell him as we put one of our arms around each other's shoulders and walk off the field together. "We're a good team!"

As we make it off the pitch, Jessica and Lucas run up to us. "That game was amazing!" Jessica says breathlessly as she reaches us.

"Yeah, way to go!" Lucas tells us excitedly.

"Thanks!" we say together as we start to walk toward the school so we can get changed.

After we've come out of the changing rooms, Nick suddenly turns to face me, smirking. "Don't look now, bro, but you've got a not-so-secret admirer looking for you!"

Oh no.

I start looking around in a panic. "Where? Where?" I ask frantically. "You guys can't let her see me!" I need to find somewhere to hide!

" _There_ you are!"

So much for her not seeing me.

"Here I am," I say dully, not even trying to hide my displeasure at her having found me.

"You were simply wonderful out there!" Madison gushes. "I couldn't look away!"

"Thank you?" I say awkwardly while I try to think of a way to get rid of her.

Madison suddenly lets out a high pitched gasp. "I have just had the most _brilliant_ idea! We should go for a celebration!" Why do I get the feeling I know where this is going? "The two of us...alone!"

Okay, this is getting really awkward now. How many times do I have to tell her I'm not interested before she finally gets the hint?

I look at the others, silently pleading for their help. Nick and Lucas simply shake their heads at me, both of them amused by my predicament. But Jessica, who looks faintly annoyed by Madison's presence, sighs irritatedly and says loudly, "Hey, guys, we'd better get moving if we're heading to Mabel's!"

"You already have plans?" Madison asks, looking crestfallen as I look back at her.

I try to sound apologetic as I say, "Yeah, yeah...sorry!" before I start to walk away. I don't get very far before she runs up to me.

The next thing I know, she has pressed her lips to my cheek before she runs off, calling over her shoulder, "Some other time, maybe?

Yeah, try never. I know it sounds harsh and all but I don't like her like _that_. Surely agreeing to go on a date with her would do more harm than good, especially since I'm not even that sure she genuinely likes me. I mean, who fancies someone who offers them a tissue?

I walk to catch up with the others, seeing that Nick and Lucas are still struggling to stop themselves from laughing. "Wow, bro," Nick wheezes. "I can't believe she actually did that!"

"Haha, funny!" I say dryly as I furiously wipe my cheek. "That girl has no sense of personal space!"

"You sure you don't want to take her up on her offer?"

I turn to face Jessica who still doesn't look happy. "You must be joking, right?" I ask. "Why would I want to spend time with _her_ when I'd rather spend time with you guys?"

Lucas suddenly cuts in with a confused sounding, "Why does Madison always want to spend time alone with Toby anyway? Every time she sees him, she always asks the same thing!"

As one, Nick, Jessica and I facepalm. Apparently, Lucas' denseness extends to other people's love lives - for lack of a better phrase - as well as his own.

We leave the school and start heading to Mabel's, a cafeteria run by a sweet old lady named - you guessed it - Mabel. Nick teases me about Madison the whole way there.

"Could you please just drop it?" I snap irritatedly after a while. "No offense, bro, but I just want to forget that the whole Madison thing ever happened!" I honestly wish I could erase it from my brain but I get the feeling the others will bring it up in the future just to annoy me.

"Yeah," Jessica says in a tone that suggests she's just as fed up of hearing about Madison as _I_ am. "I thought we were going to celebrate the Warriors' victory!"

Nick lowers his head slightly. "You're right," he says before turning to face me. "Sorry about that, bro, though you have to admit it was kind of funny - especially the look on your face!"

I open my mouth to retort that it was not funny in the slightest when Lucas points out, "We're here!"

Sure enough, when I look up, I see the familiar mint-green cursive of Mabel's on the cafeteria front. Delicious smells begin to fill my nostrils. There's nothing a visit to Mabel's can't fix.

The bell on the door rings as we step inside. The interior is warm and cozy with lemon walls and booths with red leather seats.

"Well, well, if it isn't my favorite customers!" Mabel says as she comes bustling out of the back room. Her grey hair, streaked with white, is in a bun as usual and her green eyes seem to twinkle

as she smiles warmly at us. She is so motherly and caring that pretty much everybody in town calls her Granny Mabel. I don't think anybody could dislike her.

"Hello, Granny Mabel!" we say, smiling at her.

"Now what will you be having?" she asks before whipping her notebook out of her apron pocket and saying, "no, no, don't tell me! Trifle and green tea for Nick, ginger shortbread and orange juice for Lucas, strawberry cheesecake and hot chocolate with whipped cream for Jessica and - oh, yes, that reminds me."

We watch as Mabel walks off into the back room before returning with something wrapped up in paper. "Some girl came in here about ten minutes before you did and insisted I give you this." She hands whatever it is to me and I unwrap it to reveal a slice of rhubarb crumble. I groan slightly and Mabel sighs, "I did tell her if she wanted your attention to go for the blackberry crumble but she insisted she knew best. She really was quite rude about it, too."

"That's Madison to a T." I hear Jessica mutter under her breath.

"Sorry about that," I say. "She, uh..."

Mabel shakes her head. "Say no more, dearie," she tells me. "A slice of _blackberry_ crumble and a soda it is!"

"Thanks, Granny Mabel!" we say as we sit down at one of the booths while she walks back behind the counter to prepare the order.

"Do _not_ say anything!" I say to the others who simply look back at me. "I mean it! Not. One Word."

They make _cross my heart_ motions as Granny Mabel returns with a tray filled with food. We decide to split the bill between the four of us, despite Jessica and Lucas insisting that they would pay as we were celebrating our victory over Bayside High.

"I know it's none of my business but that girl doesn't seem like a very good match for you, dear," she says as she places the plates and cups on the table. I groan and she quickly adds, "Oh, I'm sorry! Touchy subject?"

"You could say that..." I say as we give her the money which she puts into the till on the counter before we start to eat. The food tastes just as delicious as always.

"I wouldn't worry about it," she tells me. "In my younger days - you might not believe it but I used to be quite the beauty - I had my fair share of unwanted admirers. Why I can recall the Valentines ball of sixty-two. Travis Havers and Bruno Rothering just wouldn't take no for an answer." She takes out a cloth and starts wiping down the counter as she continues, "You know, they even tried to serenade me in front of my entire class. It was dreadfully embarrassing."

My face falls at this as I imagine Madison serenading me in front of everybody. I'd never be able to show my face in public again!

"But I wouldn't worry about it, if I were you," Mabel says, having noticed my discomfort. "The right one will come by eventually. Maybe you'll find they've been right under your nose this whole time, just like I did all those years ago." The last part of her sentence sounds wistful before she smiles and winks at me and leaves to serve the next customer.

As I resume eating, I wonder what Mabel could have meant. It sounded like she was trying to tell me something but I don't know what.

I look at the others and see the confusion on Nick and Lucas' faces while Jessica's expression seems unreadable. For some reason, she doesn't seem to want us - or, at least, me - to know how she feels about what Mabel said, which I find weird.

To think we only came here to celebrate our soccer victory and now I'm going to have this on my mind! Well, it's not like I haven't got something confusing on my mind already.

Why do I get the feeling Mabel knows something I don't, though? And why do I also have the feeling that things are only going to get even _more_ complicated?

I guess only time will tell.

* * *

 _AN: Well, that's the end of the chapter, guys! I hope you liked the introduction of Madison. I know it may seem like she's just a jealousy object - which is only part of her function - (ie: someone for Jessica to get jealous over) but she will get some background later on in the story and in the other ROTLON books. If it wasn't obvious, though, Toby isn't romantically interested in her...at all. I do plan to have her be a part of a subplot that will be revealed in Season 2/Supreme Eclipse Era that relates to my male OC (who should be very familiar to anyone who's read my older fics, though his role in this will be **slightly** different)._

 _Thanks for reading and I'll see you all next time! You guys are all the best!_


	12. Chapter 11 - Underwater Extinction

_AN: Hello and welcome to another installment of ROTLON! I'm happy to hear you all enjoyed the last chapter :-)_

 _So without further ado, let's get on with the fic!_

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"Okay, kids, that's the end of today's lesson!" Miss Jenson, one of my Science teachers, announces. She has blonde hair tied in a bun, green eyes and wears glasses. "If you'd all like to start packing away your things now."

I begin to put away my things in my backpack before Miss Jenson suddenly calls, "And don't forget we need to check who'll be taking Cutie home!"

The entire class goes silent with anticipation. Cutie is a brown and white guinea pig who definitely lives up to his name.

Miss Jenson walks over to the calendar which has pictures of every student on it to indicate who will get to take Cutie home each weekend. "No, it can't be!" she exclaims. "No, no, _no_!" She picks up Cutie's cage and walks over to the front of the classroom before holding it up and looking up at us. "It's _Toby's_ turn to take Cutie home for the weekend!"

Immediately everybody starts groaning in dismay. I don't understand why everyone seems so worried. What's the worst that could happen?

"Not Toby!" someone complains.

I look around and see everyone frowning at me. I groan before saying, "What's the problem here?" I fold my arms and add, "I'll take good care of him."

The bell suddenly rings which distracts everybody as they fight to be the first to leave the classroom. Miss Jenson attempts to shout over the ruckus, reminding everyone about the homework she'd set us for the weekend and that it had to be completed by Tuesday.

I walk over to the front desk after everybody else has left and Miss Jenson reluctantly hands me Cutie's cage. As I make my way to the door, she starts babbling about what I need to do before finishing with, "If you lose Cutie, you'll be in detention for the rest of your life!"

Never mind detention! If I lose Cutie, I'll be _grounded_ for the rest of my life!

I head over to my locker and immediately notice the heart-shaped note attached to the door. "See this, Cutie?" I address the guinea pig who lets out a squeak. "That's the twenty-ninth note she's left me this week!" Inwardly I groan as I remove the note and toss it into my bag. Madison has been attaching love notes to my locker, despite the fact that a) it's not Valentine's Day yet and b) I thought I'd made it obvious that I wasn't interested.

"Awww, cute!"

I whip my head to see Nick, Jessica and Lucas approaching me. Jessica, who is slightly in front, appears to be the one who said it.

I blink at her in confusion. It takes me a few moments to realize that she's talking about the guinea pig, not me.

Still, an opportunity to tease her is something I can't pass up, best friend or not. "Wow, Jess, I'm flattered that you think _I'm_ -"

"N-no!" Jessica squeaks, embarrassed, as her face glows like the setting sun. "I d-didn't mean - not that you're not - n-no, that's not what I'm saying! I j-just meant that..."

She says all of this very fast and I decide to put her out of her misery by quickly saying, "It's okay - I know what you meant." I hold up Cutie's cage and add, "He is pretty cute, right, guys?

"Oh dear," Nick says, amused. "Toby with the classroom pet?"

"We _all_ know how this is gonna end!" Lucas chimes in as we start to leave the school and head home.

Once we get home, we make our way through the kitchen to the back garden when Mom stops us, "Dad's making us a barbecue today, kids!"

"Sounds great, Mom!" Nick tells her.

Mom looks up suddenly. I guess she can hear Cutie squeaking. Her gaze eventually lands on his cage which I am holding. "Oh no," she mutters, going pale, before saying in a louder voice, "If you lose _another_ classroom pet, young man, you'll-"

"No, wait, don't say it!" I interrupt cheerfully. "I'll be grounded for the rest of my life!" I begin to lead the way to the back door before stopping and saying, "Relax, Mom - I'm not going to lose Cutie!"

"That's what you _always_ say!" Nick quips under his breath and the others quietly laugh.

I frown as I walk outside. Just wait 'til I prove everybody wrong! We'll see who's laughing then.

I gently place Cutie's cage down on the grass and flop myself down into one of the nearby deckchairs. Nick and Lucas sit down on the grass while Jessica takes the other deckchair.

Lucas opens the cage and carefully takes Cutie out, petting his furry head, as we watch Dad at the other side of the garden attempting to light the barbecue.

"It's time for the barbecue master to strut his stuff!" he announces as he lights a match, only for it to promptly go out. "Hey!" he exclaims before lighting another one, only to have the same thing happen. "Hey!" he protests. "This can't be happening!" he says after lighting a third match which also goes out.

Needless to say, it's not going too well.

"It was so weird!" I tell the others. "They were acting like I couldn't take care of it!"

"You _can't_ , Toby!" Nick responds. "Every time you get the class pet, it escapes!"

I frown. "Not _every_ time!" I say indignantly, folding my arms.

"Uh, yeah, what about the snail?" Jessica asks.

I groan at the memory. "Who has a snail as a class pet anyway?" I respond.

"And don't even _mention_ the snake!" Nick says, causing me to unwittingly flashback to the time that I had to look after a snake. I recall being engrossed in a video game, only to hear Mom and Dad screaming. I had then looked up from my game to discover that the snake tank was empty. "Mom and Dad grounded _both_ of us and I wasn't even in _town_ when it happened!" he adds as Jessica walks over to Lucas to get a closer look at Cutie.

"Do you know how hard it is to keep a snake in a tank?" I ask. "That could have happened to anyone!"

"But it didn't!" Nick points out. "It happened to _you!"_

"You _have_ to be careful this time!" Jessica insists as Lucas passes Cutie to her. She then says with the kind of voice girls tend to use when they find something - usually babies - extremely cute, "He's so much _cuter_ than a snake!"

"Oh, forget it!" Dad exclaims suddenly, causing us all to gasp. I guess he hasn't had luck lighting the barbecue. "I could start waiting for that stupid thing to light!" We watch him walk frustratedly into the house

"Don't worry," I say as I walk over to Jessica who hands Cutie to me. "Nothing's gonna happen to Cutie!" I place him back in the cage and fasten the door.

Suddenly I gasp as a gray tabby cat pounces on top of the cage, meowing aggressively. I scream as Jessica yells, "Hey! Get outta here!" while waving her arms.

I have an idea and rush over to the grill, pulling a red cloth out of the basket and hold it out to one side. "Hola, gateau!" I say as the cat jumps down on to the grass and dashes at me, only to crash into the bush behind me. I drop the cloth and look at the others who are laughing. "See?" I tell them. "It's obvious that I know how to handle animals!"

I soon find myself eating my own words as the cat jumps onto my back, digging its claws in, causing me to fall over as I let out a pained cry.

Hey, those claws are sharp, okay?

I hold the cat away from me as it furiously struggles and swipes its front paws at me, trying to scratch me, meowing angrily the whole time.

"Since you know how to handle animals, I guess you don't need our help!" Lucas says, amused.

"That's not what I meant!" I exclaim, wishing somebody would get this crazy cat off of me already.

"Mr. Fluffy!"

Wait, that voice! No. Not _her._ Not today.

The others gasp as Paula Pinkney pokes her head out of a bush and lets out a cry when she sees what is apparently her cat in my arms. She marches towards us while angrily saying, "Get your hands off my baby!"

I let out a sigh of relief as the crazy cat is finally taken from me and cradled in Paula's arms, looking completely calm and innocent. I stand up as Paula glares at us after giggling at Mr. Fluffy. "Paula Pinkney," I say, dusting myself off. "For once, I'm actually _happy_ to see you!"

Paula narrows her eyes at us. "I know you guys are up to something," she says. "But you'd better leave my precious kitty out of it!" She turns and walks away huffily, Mr. Fluffy once meowing aggressively and swiping its front paws at us.

 _"Did she say_ precious?"

The four of us scream as we look down and see Razzle standing on the grass next to us. This, of course, causes him to scream too.

Nick looks around in a panic before saying in a hushed tone, "You know, Razzle, you've got to be careful that no one _sees_ you!"

"No kidding!" Razzle tells him. "Would I be here if there wasn't a problem in the Gorm?"

"Let's get outta here!" Jessica says and we start walking back towards the house. Suddenly I hear a loud and indignant squeaking noise and walk back to get Cutie, sheepishly chuckling at him as I take hold of the cage.

We head into the pantry and activate the panel to access the Primal Pad. As usual, we stand in front of the control panel while Razzle tells us what's happening.

"Our _friend_ Magmion is back!" he begins. "And he's hooked up with Drakkon again!" The image on the screen shows Volcano Mountain releasing dark red smoke while Magmion laughs evilly before jumping onto Drakkon's back. "Worse - he's met up with Electricon and that noisy creep, the Screaming Guardian!" The image changes to show said Lava Gormiti kneeling before Magmion. "Then he attacked the Water Gormiti with a _weird_ spell! Now there's some sort of sickness spreading under the sea!" The screen shows an image of the underwater plants wilting and dying.

"Turtle the Seer can see the future and she is _really_ worried!" Razzle continues, the image on the screen now showing some Sea Gormiti - one of them being Hammer, a Sea Gormiti we had met previously and the other is obviously Turtle. "So she sent Hammer to find me...so I could find you guys!"

"They look so _weak_!" Jessica says as we watch them marching out of the sea onto the shore onscreen. "No way they can beat Magmion!"

"We'd better go to the Gorm!" Razzle tells us.

The four of us run to stand around the Gorm Gate and cry out, "Elementals!"

"Air!" Jessica begins.

"Water!" I yell.

"Forest!" Lucas calls.

"Earth!" Nick finishes.

"Reveal to us the Keeper and give to them your chair!" we say together as the chair starts spinning around.

"And the Keeper is..." Razzle announces as the chair slows down before a green icon with the Forest symbol appears on the back, "...Forest!"

Razzle climbs up on Lucas' shoulder and says to him, "Lucas, you da man!"

"Hey, Razzle," I say as he takes hold of the handle on Cutie's cage. "When we go to the Gorm, how about you take care of Cutie?" I let go of the cage and Razzle screams as it drops. Luckily Lucas grabs him by the tail before the cage can hit the floor. "I knew I could count on you!" I add as I kneel down to his level.

"But I don't know what to do!" Razzle protests, still clinging to the handle for dear life.

I stand up and tell him, "All you have to do is feed it and make sure it doesn't get loose!"

Razzle peers down over the side of the cage which Lucas had set on the ground and eventually says, "Alright, but you'd better be on your best behavior!" before letting out a cry as Cutie scurries over and licks his face.

Lucas jumps into the Keeper's chair while I join the others. "Okay, guys, ready when you are!" he tells us. Without wasting any more time, the three of us run to the Gorm Gate and jump in. "And...touchdown!" he announces as we land on a rocky ledge. "So, according to the Travel Tome, you should be near where Magmion cast his spell!"

Judging from the familiar evil laughter I can hear, I'm guessing the Travel Tome is right. As we look down, we see a fiery blast being fired at three fleeing Sea Gormiti. Drakkon opens its mouth and releases a stream of fire while Magmion steps forward and says smugly, "You think you can stand before Magmion? Think again!"

"We got here just in time!" Nick exclaims just before Lucas projects his image beside us.

"Let's get you powered up and fast!" he says. After a few seconds, he announces, "Good to glow!"

"Elemental powers flow," the three of us yell together. "Gormiti - Lords of Nature, go!"

"Powers of the Sea!" I cry as I transform, letting out a roar.

Nick runs forward and jumps down onto the beach, slamming his fist into the ground, causing shockwaves that knock Magmion off his feet. Drakkon, however, flies up into the air and escapes the impact.

I decide I can't let my little brother have all the fun and call out, "Time for a swim, Magmion!" I raise my arms in the air and use my control of water to create a huge wave that towers above Magmion.

Before I can even do anything with it, though, Drakkon flies in front of Magmion and releases a stream of fire from its mouth, causing the water to evaporate and a lot of steam to form as the wave shrinks away completely.

"You've been lucky in the past!" Magmion says. "But that changes today!" He raises his left arm which is surrounded by yellow lightning and miniature volcanoes start sprouting out of the ground, all of them releasing lava blasts into the sky. To the horror of myself and Nick, one of them hits Jessica, causing her to fall into the churning water.

I jump down onto the beach and run to the edge of the shore along with Nick, seeing Jessica struggling to stay above the water. "Help me!" she calls to us desperately. "Please, guys! Help!"

Magmion laughs as Jessica continues to call to us. Nick looks at me and I dive into the water, Jessica seeming relieved as I easily reach her, swimming through the choppy waves. I drape my arm around her and we start making our way back to the shore.

Suddenly Magmion's laughter stops abruptly as two of the Sea Gormiti attempt a sneak attack from behind, trying to hit his legs but he jumps forward and sneers, "Think you're sneaky? I don't think so!" He then hits one of them with two blasts of fire, knocking them to the ground.

As Jessica and I finally reach the shore, Nick shouts "Incoming!" in warning, before raising his hand and firing several sharp rock projectiles which hit Drakkon, causing the dragon to let out a screech as it tumbles in mid-air before flying in the opposite direction. It must have been waiting to attack us from behind. "That thing will be back!" Nick tells us as we walk over to join him.

We look over and see Magmion firing at the Sea Gormiti. "Stand back, guys!" Jessica calls, much to their confusion. She creates a blast of wind and sends it towards Magmion while Hammer and the other Sea Gormiti - Tongs, if I remember rightly - wisely running back to avoid being hit. However, Magmion punches the attack away, sending it up into the air.

 _That_ could have gone a lot better!

I spot Turtle standing alone near the edge of the water and run over. "You're too weak to fight," I tell her. "You'll be safer in the water!" I lead her into the water but I find myself gasping and I double over, holding my legs. What's going on?

"But you are weak too," Turtle points out as I try to catch my breath. "Perhaps you have the tired sickness that has spread through the realm."

I straighten up. No way am I going to let that stop me! "It's okay - I'll be fine!" I insist. I look over to see Tongs walking towards us.

"Hammer, join us!" he calls to his companion.

Hammer, apparently, is very stubborn. "No!" he refuses before rushing towards Magmion, saying, "I will fight on until the end!" I get a sinking feeling that _the end_ may come sooner than he thinks.

Sure enough, as Hammer charges forwards, Magmion trips him up and he lands hard on his back, dazed. "You won't have long to wait!" the Volcano Gormiti sneers as he runs over to a fallen Hammer, Drakkon landing near them.

Magmion lowers his voice and I cannot hear what he's saying to Drakkon but I can guess it's nothing good. Suddenly he raises his hand which is surrounded by a yellow glow and fires a beam at the ground in front of Jessica. Immediately a cage made of molten lava rises up around her, effectively trapping her as it solidifies.

I watch as Nick runs over to her, yelling, "Hang on!" I still can't shake the feeling that something bad is about to happen.

"Get me out of this thing!" Jessica yells as Nick starts punching the cage to try and break it apart.

I gasp for breath as Magmion decides to seize his opportunity, approaching us while Nick and Jessica are distracted. "Drakkon, smokescreen!" he commands.

Drakkon obediently opens its mouth and releases a stream of fire that hits the water, creating a huge cloud of steam that obscures us from view.

I cannot see them approaching but I can hear Magmion's evil laughter as he and Drakkon walk towards us. Now would probably be a good time to run, except I don't feel strong enough to do that and I don't want to abandon the others.

While I try to think of my options - which are incredibly limited-, I look up and see Magmion leering at me. There is an unpleasant gleam in his eyes that makes me feel uneasy as I try to back away from him.

However, I don't even get the chance to move as he grabs me without warning and tosses me onto Drakkon's back. I don't have the strength to struggle or even fight back.

"They've got Toby!" Jessica exclaims, I presume, to Nick since his back is turned and I'm pretty sure _I_ know I've been captured!

Drakkon turns its head to glare threateningly at me, as though daring me to move. Meanwhile, Magmion uses his tail to drop Hammer - who is still unconscious - onto Drakkon's back as well, saying loudly, "I've got my hostages!" He begins laughing as he runs and jumps up onto Drakkon's back, sitting in front of me as the dragon takes off into the air.

Drakkon lets out a triumphant screech as it flies away. I decide not to worry about what is happening right now. The best thing to do is to focus on something important. But _what_? Oh, yeah!

"Take care of Cutie!" I call to Nick and Jessica, who seems to have been freed from the cage she had been trapped in.

I know it will probably confuse them but thinking about _anything_ other than the fact that I am in a hostage situation is preferable right now.

Drakkon continues to fly and I guess we're heading to the Lava Nation. I mean where else would ol' Magmy take us?

I look back at Hammer who seems to have woken up, though he seems to be as weak as I feel.

Eventually, Drakkon lands in front of a towering rock with smaller rocks attached to the sides by rock walkways. Magmion jumps off onto the ground before dragging us off of Drakkon with his tail. I wince as I hit the ground with a thud.

"Get up and get moving!" he orders, pointing in the direction of the tower. "And don't even think about trying to run away," he raises his blade-like arm threateningly before adding, "because _I_ have the advantage here!"

Hammer and I find ourselves sandwiched between Magmion and Drakkon as we are marched inside the tower. We are led to what I assume is the main chamber where the Screaming Guardian and Electricon are waiting and shoved against the wall. I kneel down and support Hammer who still seems pretty stunned from earlier on.

Magmion begins to pace in front of us before coming to an abrupt halt and announcing, "I have a proposition: if the Water Gormiti agree to serve us in the mines of Klugart, I will reverse my spell and allow the Water realm to survive."

I've never even heard of the Klugart mines, though I don't think Hammer will take too kindly to this offer Magmion's making. Sure enough, he snaps angrily, "We will _never_ be your slaves!"

"Oh, a most _unfortunate_ choice!" Magmion says as we gasp defiantly. "Now the Water Gormiti are _doomed_!"

He steps back and nods to his accomplices who move forward and grab me by the arms. "Hey!" I yell in protest. "What do you think you're doing?" Out of the corner of my eye, I see two Lava Soldiers grabbing Hammer.

I want to help him as he is being dragged away but Electricon raises his hand which is surrounded by blue electricity and points it at Hammer. Screaming Guardian lets out a scream, causing me to wince. "Okay, okay, I get the message!" I snap irritatedly, their grip on my arms is so tight, it's painful.

They roll aside a round door and toss me inside a small chamber, which I realize is a cell. The door slams shut behind me and I look around. This is just the _best_ day of my life! Who wouldn't want to be trapped in a prison cell belonging to an evil maniac?

"Hammer, are you okay in there?" I whisper in a hushed voice as I stand up and walk over to a small hole in the wall. I look down and see Hammer sitting, slumped against the wall. He seems pretty out of it, though he doesn't appear to be hurt. "Be strong," I tell him. "I'm sure Nick and Jessica are on their way!"

Speaking of which, I find myself wondering what they're up to. I figure that they must have gone back to the Primal Pad to recharge their orbs. I don't blame them. They're going to need all the power they can get if they want to rescue Hammer and I from this place. After all, with the way I feel right now - exhausted, breathless and achy - there's just no way I'd be able to take on a bunch of Lava Gormiti and come out on top. I seriously even Hammer would make a difference in our chances of escaping, despite him being one of the strongest warriors in the Sea Nation.

I decide to wander back to the window - for lack of a better word - that looks out onto the outside of the prison. For now, I figure it's best to wait for the others to show up. They will. I know they will.

Sure enough, after a few moments, I see a couple of specks in the distance, walking along the winding pathway. As they get closer, I cannot stop the wide grin on my face as I recognize them as Nick, Jessica and the two Sea Gormiti: Turtle and Tongs.

They came. I knew they would!

I walk away from the window and head over to the hole in the wall separating my cell from Hammer's. "They're here!" I whisper. "Just hold on, Hammer!"

Hammer stands up and turns to face me. When he speaks, his voice sounds a lot stronger than before, less breathless. "I am fine now!" he declares, raising his arms. "Perhaps the sea has returned to life!"

I ponder his words. I certainly don't feel as weak and breathless as I had before. However, I don't have long to think about what could have happened as I hear a rumbling sound. I turn to see the door to my cell being rolled aside as Magmion marches in, looking angry. Well, what else is new?

"Be warned," he says to me. "As soon as one of the invaders enters the prison," he pauses as Electricon and the Screaming Guardian step up beside him, chuckling evilly. I gasp and back away slightly as Electricon raises his fist and the Screaming Guardian raises his hook-like hand. " _You_ will be destroyed!" Magmion finishes threateningly.

I back away even further. My destruction is not something I had anticipated but I probably should have. "Tell them to leave the prison or you and your _friend_ are finished!" Magmion commands. "You have three seconds! One!"

I stand against the wall. If I say anything, I get the feeling Magmion will destroy us anyway. "Two!"

However, if I _don't_ say anything, Magmion will destroy us. I can't think of a way out of this one - not without somebody getting hurt. "Three!"

" _Farewell!"_ Magmion says as he raises his blade-like arm, pointing it at me. I brace myself for the pain that is soon to come but, to my surprise, I hear a rumbling sound. I glance to the side and see Hammer emerge from the cloud of dust. He must have broken the wall between our cells to help me.

"It's Hammer-time!" he declares. Electricon lets out an angry cry and shoots a jolt of blue electricity at him but he jumps out of the way. I watch as he charges forward and throws Electricon back with one hand, causing the Lava Gormiti to hit the wall _hard_ , before announcing, "You're next, Magmion!"

As Magmion fires a blast at Hammer, sending him flying backward, I get the feeling that things still won't be so easy for us. Hammer sits up and clutches his shoulder, steam rising from it. "Hmmm, let's see - Water Gormiti - ah, yes!" Magmion says, looking thoughtful. He marches closer to Hammer. "Too _weak_ outside the water to take us on!" he boasts, raising his blade-like hand for another attack.

I decide I cannot stand by and just watch Hammer be hurt again. I rush forward and grab Magmion's hand, holding him away from Hammer. He struggles to escape my grip and I struggle to hold on.

Out of the corner of my eye, I see Hammer trying and failing to hit the Screaming Guardian. "Hold still!" he yells frustratedly as the Lava Gormiti moves back and forth on the spot before moving aside, allowing Electricon to run behind him and hit Hammer with a jolt of electricity.

I let out a cry as Hammer crashes into me, sending us both flying backward until we hit the wall. "I'm keeping a special place in the mines for you two!" Magmion declares before firing a beam of fire from his blade-like hand.

Lava begins to form, trapping our feet. Hammer lets out a cry of pain and I know I have to act fast before the heat evaporates what's left of our power. I quickly hit the lava with a continuous stream of water until it solidifies into molten rock. I struggle to pull myself free - if we remain incapacitated like this, we will soon find it hard to fight back.

"I'm afraid that surrender is no longer an option for you!" Magmion informs us as we struggle to free ourselves. The rock is still hot and it hurts to try and move against it.

Suddenly the room begins to shake, leaving us all confused. I don't know what's happening - unless it's the others, in which case their timing couldn't _be_ more perfect!

Magmion marches over to the window as the shaking continues. "What?" he exclaims angrily. So it _is_ the others! "Just get out there and distract them!" he orders the Screaming Guardian and Electricon. "Drakkon will be here soon enough!" Oh, I was wondering where that overgrown dragon had gotten to.

Screaming Guardian lets out a screech, pointing his hook-shaped hand at Hammer and I. "These two, I can handle. Now go!" Magmion commands and the two Lava Gormiti obediently run off. The shaking starts to get more intense and Magmion lets out a nervous cry as small chunks of rock from the ceiling start raining down.

"Looks like you bit off more than you can chew this time!" I tell him. With a cry, I release a blast of water which sends him crashing backward into the opposite wall.

I attempt once again to free myself. This time the rock is cool enough that it breaks apart with some effort, allowing me the freedom to move my feet once more. I raise my fist and punch the rock trapping Hammer's feet, causing it to break apart. "Thanks!" he says gratefully, stepping forward.

Punching rock is not really my strong suit. I rub my aching fist slightly before turning to face Magmion who takes a menacing step towards us. With a cry of effort, I release another stream of water but Magmion counters by releasing a stream of lava from his hands. I struggle to hold his attack back.

Hammer runs forward, probably to attack Magmion but he never gets the chance. As he charges, Magmion trips him, causing him to cry out as he crashes headfirst into the wall. Ouch!

Magmion increases the intensity of his attack and I do the same but I soon find it difficult to keep up this level of power. Sweat begins to pour down my face as I struggle to even continue attacking. My orb must be almost empty by now - if I lose my powers, I'll be completely defenseless! I let out a scream as I continue to hit Magmion with everything I have left. If I'm going down, there's no way I'm going without a fight!

Eventually, however, I simply cannot keep it up any longer. I slump down on my hands and knees, panting with exhaustion. "Being my slave probably seems _better_ than this!" Magmion says smugly, stopping his attack. He laughs as he advances towards us.

I tense up as he approaches, only for him to move past me and grab Hammer, holding the Sea Gormiti in a choke hold. "Let him go!" I snap, trying not to let my exhaustion show in my voice.

Hammer struggles in Magmion's vice-like grip. "Being my slave..." he begins, acting like he didn't hear me.

" _Never!"_ Hammer yells defiantly. I summon every last bit of strength I have and force myself to stand before letting out a determined cry and releasing a powerful blast of water. It hits Magmion, forcing him to let go of Hammer as it sends him flying through the doorway. I hear a thud and a pained grunt as he hits a wall.

By this point, my body is aching and I just want to sleep for a million years. My shaking legs don't seem to want to support my weight as I collapse onto my knees. I don't think I could manage another attack.

"We can't rest!" Hammer tells me as he walks over and helps me to my feet.

"I've wasted too much time on you!" Magmion declares angrily as he storms back into the room. He begins to glow red as he starts to chant some weird spell. As he does so, the prison begins to shake and the ceiling crumbles.

I guess this is it. I guess this is the end. It's not how I planned on leaving the world but I'll take it. Magmion continues to chant as I say regretfully, "Sorry, looks like I failed!"

The shaking gets worse as the volume of the chanting increases. Suddenly, out of nowhere, a crack appears in the ground beneath Magmion's feet as he's about to fire a yellow beam at us. He lets out a cry as he falls into the crack, shooting the beam at the ceiling instead.

"Toby, I'm on my way!" I hear a voice call my name in the distance as the ceiling starts to crumble.

I know that voice! I can't believe it!

"Nick!" I yell back, unable to keep the relief out of my voice. "You made it!"

I look up as my brother runs over to join us. "Hey, that's what brothers are for!" he tells me. "Now hop on and _hang on!"_

He easily lifts both Hammer and I up, using one arm each to support us. By this point, the small chunks of rock falling down have evolved into medium-sized chunks of rock. It's pretty obvious by the shaking that this place is coming down.

Nick runs toward the exit, holding onto us, which I'm kind of glad about. After the battle with Magmion, I don't feel like I have the energy to _walk_ , let alone run.

We approach a wall and Nick charges straight through it, his rock-like body breaking the wall apart, forming a hole large enough for us to escape. I hear bangs behind me as Nick runs up the walkway away from the cell.

He stops when we reach Jessica and the other Sea Gormiti before turning around as we all watch the cell break apart from the main tower, crashing to the ground with a cloud of dust rising up where the cell had once been connected to the walkway.

"It is over," Turtle says calmly.

"Looks like the good guys won again!" Jessica exclaims.

Suddenly we hear a grumble from near us. "Beware!" we hear Magmion call up to us. I guess he's clinging to the broken walkway. He starts to cough. "The Water Gormiti will-" He lets out another cough before exasperatedly exclaiming, "Oh, you haven't heard the last of me!" He coughs for a third time before letting out a cry which is followed by a thud. I can hear him grumbling to himself as he presumably leaves.

"May I thank you _now?"_ Turtle asks politely.

"Yes," Nick tells her, "and you're very welcome!"

I suddenly remember something. "Hey, how's the guinea pig?" I ask. I can't believe I almost forgot about Cutie!

Jessica's head snaps up, her expression nervous. "Um...uh..." she utters with the tone of someone who has bad news to give but doesn't know how to break it to the person.

"Maybe Lucas will know!" Nick says a little too quickly. I get the feeling they know something I don't.

"Hey!" Lucas says indignantly as he projects his image beside us.

I step forward. "Lucas, where's Cutie?" I ask.

He shrugs. "I don't know?" he replies, though it sounds more like a question than a statement.

"You must know!" I say desperately. This _cannot_ be happening!

"Well, that's just it, Toby!" Nick interrupts and I turn to face him. "We _don't_ know!"

Jessica steps up. "He disappeared when we went back to the Primal Pad!"

My mind hears the word _disappeared_ and I feel like I am in a trance as I start to imagine Miss Jenson _and_ my parents scolding me as well as the angry looks from my classmates.

I don't even notice Lucas gating us back to the Primal Pad until I look around and see that we are somehow in the back garden, obviously in human form. The sky is rosy-pink in color, indicating that it's sunset and Dad is apparently having more luck with the grill as he successfully manages to light it. He starts to do a strange dance, chanting, "Grill town, oh yeah, uh-huh, grill town, that's right, uh-huh!"

Right now, however, I have more important things on my mind. "You _lost_ the guinea pig?" I say angrily to Lucas who leans away from me before holding his hands up.

"Don't blame me," he says calmly. "It's your fault for putting _Razzle_ in charge!"

I look up and see Razzle walking along a branch towards a hole in the tree trunk. "Cutie," he calls into the hole, his voice whistling slightly, "where are you?"

"I am gonna be in so much trouble!" I exclaim as I hold my head in my hands.

"Wonder if Mr. Fluffy knows what happened to Cutie?" Nick muses thoughtfully.

I feel like my stomach has dropped out of my body. "Oh no!" I exclaim frantically. "The cat could have eaten the guinea pig!"

Just then, there is a scream coming from inside the house. "Mom found him!" Nick and I say together. We both run into the house and find Mom standing on a chair in the kitchen.

I approach the table and see Cutie sitting in a bowl of lettuce. "Just...take it away!" Mom tells me as I pick up the bowl and carry it, leading the way back outside.

Once we're back outside, I place the bowl down on the lawn. "He sure is hungry!" Lucas comments as we watch Cutie munch on the greens.

"But...Razzle was supposed to feed him!" I exclaim, confused.

"It all makes sense now!" Jessica says as she turns and looks inside Cutie's cage. "It ran away because it was looking for something _healthy_ to eat!"

Razzle says rather huffily, "I just fed him what _you guys_ like to eat!"

Clearly, Razzle doesn't know that what _humans_ like to eat and what _guinea pigs_ like to eat are very different things altogether.

"Okay, Cutie, let's get you back to your cage!" I tell the guinea pig who is still munching away. I reach my hand into the bowl to pick him up but he lets out a loud and angry squeak, causing me to quickly pull back.

I frown as he goes right back to eating when suddenly a leaf gets thrown in my face.

A guinea pig just threw a leaf in my face. Yeah...

"I'll...just let him eat for a while!" I decide after pulling the leaf off my face. The others start laughing at my expense as Cutie squeaks contentedly.

The weekend passes by and soon it is time to head to my next class with Miss Jenson. I stand at the back of the queue as we walk into the classroom, holding Cutie's cage behind my back. I haven't let anybody look in the cage yet - it'll ruin the moment!

Right before I enter the classroom, I look at Cutie who is peering out through the bars of the cage. "Well, it's been good, right?" I say and he lets out what I think is a confirming squeak. "Now it's time for me to take you back to your _real_ home!"

I walk into the classroom. "Ladies and gentlemen," I announce and the entire room goes silent. Everyone, Miss Jenson included, seems to be holding their breath. "I present to you..." I hold up the cage so everyone can see it, "...Cutie!"

The silence continues for a few seconds and I actually start to feel a bit worried before I hear:

"It's Cutie!"

"He brought him back!"

"It's so good to have you back, Cutie!"

Miss Jenson approaches me, looking like she's fighting the urge to start crying. "Thank you!" she says to me. "Thank you for bringing Cutie back in one piece!"

The whole class starts applauding me and I take it in before turning to Miss Jenson. "So does this mean I _don't_ get a detention for forgetting to do the homework?" I ask eagerly

Judging from the grim expression on her face, I'll take that as a no!

* * *

 _AN: And we're at the end of another chapter! Hope you enjoyed the read and I apologize for it not being as long as usual._

 _This is something I want your opinion on. Many reviews I've had seem to express a wish for another Gormiti Love so here is my idea:_

 _You guys send a review on here or an ask on Tumblr (gormitifangirl) with a word and a couple/shipping e.g. snow - blizzardstormshipping._

 _Let me know if you guys would be interested in doing something like that._

 _Obviously, it won't be alphabetical but it will have the same premise - a book of romantic Gormiti oneshots :-)_

 _So thank you once again for reading and supporting this story and my others! I'll see you all in the next chapter_


	13. Chapter 12 - Root of Evil

_AN: Hello and welcome back to ROTLON! From the reviews, you guys seem to like the idea of a second Gormiti Love so I will start working on that in the future._

 _Without further ado, let's carry on with the fic! :-)_

* * *

I sit on my bed, holding a small box in my hands. I open it up and look at the object inside. This, without a doubt, has to be the _best_ present I've ever gotten for Mom!

Mom and Dad are out at a restaurant while Nick and I get the house ready for Mom's thirty-seventh birthday party. It's a surprise party obviously.

I start to wonder what Nick will think of my present. After all, it's a definite improvement on my previous gifts. I get up from my bed and leave the room, heading down the hall to Nick's room before pushing the door open.

"Check it out!" I exclaim happily as I hold up a pair of toenail clippers. "Is this the most awesome birthday present for Mom or what?"

From the blank look on Nick's face, I'm not sure he agrees. "You're giving Mom _toenail clippers?"_ he asks incredulously.

I look down at them. The way he says it makes it sound like that's a bad thing but toenail clippers can be useful...right? "Not just toenail clippers!" I say as I try to explain why they're so great. "They're _silver-plated_ toenail clippers!"

Nick raises an eyebrow and says in an _I should have realized_ tone, "Oh, they're silver-plated? Why didn't you say so?"

I watch, letting out a small "But-" in protest, as he walks over to his cupboard and opens the doors. I walk over to see him pick up a small black box.

He turns around to face me and declares, "Here's what _I_ got Mom!" as he opens the box and puĺls out a flower-shaped pendant with a golden chain - the petals are amethyst and the center of the flower is a blue pearl.

I gasp in awe. "Oh, wow!" I say, not really knowing what else _to_ say.

"You know how much she loves pearls and flowers," Nick says casually.

"So you got her a pearl flower!" I say before groaning. My present is beginning to seem really lame now. "You always get Mom the best presents," I complain. "And mine always _suck_!" I think of the presents I've given Mom in the past which include a kitten, a goldfish _and -_ I'm not joking here - an old sock.

I let out another groan as I realize just how bad my present is going to look compared to Nick's. "Toby," Nick says as he puts his hand on my shoulder, "have you ever heard of the Internet?" I give him an unimpressed look and he continues while putting the pendant in its little box before putting it back in the cupboard, "Then I suggest you get on it and start searching for a new present!" I frown, wondering just what I'm supposed to look for. "I'd help ya but somebody has to set up for Mom's party!" he points out. "Dad can only stall her for so long!"

Before I can even say anything in response, he dashes out of the room and I can hear his footsteps as he heads downstairs. I figure I may as well take his advice and I walk back into my bedroom before sitting down and logging onto my computer.

I open up a new tab on the Internet browser and type in the web address for the online shopping site I had used to buy the toenail clippers.

However none of the items that show up catch my interest as I click the left button on the mouse to change the page. As I go to click the arrow that will take me to the sixth page, something catches my eye. "Hello, what's this?" I exclaim, sitting up in my seat. I double-click on the image. " _Gold-plated_ toenail clippers!"

I click on the image again and a button with dollar bills appears below it. I am sorely tempted to buy them but I can just imagine the look on Nick's face. Heck, I can even imagine what he'd say! _"You call_ that _a better present?"_

"No, wait," I say, moving the cursor away from the button and slumping down in my chair. "That's not good."

Deciding that right now searching for a new present hasn't really yielded anything that will make up for my past presents, I log off and turn the computer off before going downstairs with the intention of getting something to drink.

As I reach the kitchen, the doorbell suddenly rings. "Hey, Toby!" Nick calls from the living room. "Can you get the door?"

"What? You couldn't get it?" I say as I poke my head around the living room door and see Nick struggling with a banner.

I walk to the front door and open it to find Lucas and Jessica standing on the porch. Without even so much as a hello, they dash past me into the living room.

"What's with the crazy black sky?" Jessica asks.

As I walk into the room, Lucas adds, "Think it has something to do with-"

 _"The Gorm? Of course, it does!"_

The four of us scream as Razzle once again appears out of nowhere.

Razzle lets out a scream of his own before sighing and saying, "Not used to my spontaneous yet strategically planned surprise visits yet?"

Do I _really_ need to answer that one?

"No!" we all yell.

"Never mind that!" Razzle says, undeterred by our annoyed tones. "We've got trouble in the Gorm!"

"No surprise _there_!" Jessica says, folding her arms.

"Quick!" I exclaim, pointing in the direction of the kitchen. "To the cramped cupboard!"

We head into the kitchen and walk into the pantry, closing the doors behind us. As usual, we slide our hands across the panel to gain access to the Primal Pad and I lead the way down the steps.

Once we reach the Primal Pad, we gather around the control panel which shows Lavion and Bombos...

Wait, Lavion and Bombos? How did _they_ get free? Did somebody read that portal spell again? Is there another tree that was once a Gormiti hanging around Gorm now? I have no idea.

"Lavion has reignited a sleeping volcano in the Old Forest and is feeding trees into its fire!" Razzle informs us as we watch Lavion uproot a tree before Bombos sets the trunk ablaze and it gets tossed into the volcano. "The fire is creating a plume of black smoke that will eventually consume all of Gorm!"

"So _that_ explains the smoky skies in Venture Falls!" Nick exclaims.

Razzle looks grave as he adds, "Once plunged into total darkness, Lavion and Bombos will attack under the cover of the eternal night!"

"Not good!" I say, though even _I_ know that it's an understatement.

We run to stand around the Gorm Gate and cry out, "Elementals!"

"Earth!" Nick begins.

"Air!" Jessica yells.

"Water!" I shout.

"Forest!" Lucas finishes.

The chair begins to spin around as we chant, "Reveal to us the Keeper and give to them your chair!"

"And the Keeper is..." Razzle announces as the chair slows to a stop, showing a light-blue icon with the Air symbol, "...Air!" He jumps onto Jessica's shoulder, asking, "Ready?" only to groan as she dashes off, leaving him with nothing to hold on to as he crashes to the ground.

Jessica leaps into the chair and starts to manipulate the crystals to open the Gorm Gate. "Ah, yes, very disco!" she exclaims as the crystals swirl around.

I jump into the Gorm Gate followed by Lucas. Nick is nowhere to be seen for a few seconds until I look up and see him falling above us.

"Okay, guys," Jessica says as we land. "Travel Tome says you're halfway between the Forest capital and the volcano. That puts you in...the heart of the Old Forest!"

We gasp as we look around. Where there should be grass and plant-life growing, instead we see lava bubbling, having leaked from the nearby volcano. We stand up and I say, "More like the _ex_ -forest!"

"And I don't like it!" Lucas says anxiously. "We're completely exposed out here!"

I turn around to face him and grin as I say casually, "I doubt Lavion will attack us. He's too busy-" I let out a whimper as I hear a loud thud as a tree trunk gets thrown at us.

"Not attacking us?" Nick exclaims. "Think again!"

We all let out fearful cries as a second tree trunk is hurled in our direction and, without hesitation, we start running in the opposite direction.

As we run, I can hear thud after thud as more tree trunks are thrown at us. One of them causes Nick to lose his footing but he quickly scrambles back to his feet and catches up with Lucas and I. "We need to power up a.s.a.p!" he exclaims.

" _Sooner_ than a.s.a.p!" Lucas points out.

"Jessica!" I yell, only to get no response. That's weird - shouldn't she be there? I try again. "Jessica?" Still, nothing. Why isn't she in the Primal Pad? Maybe the third time will be the charm. "Jessica!"

We continue running. Jessica is apparently unavailable and I'm not sure about the others but I'm not sure how long we'll be able to avoid staying unscathed without our powers.

"We need to power up!" Lucas says as we head back into the forest. "Where's Jessica? Why isn't she there?"

Nick glances at me and I notice that he looks a little shifty. "Okay, little bro, spill!" I say, starting to get a little out of breath.

"Well, I think I know why she isn't there," he says, looking sheepish. "You see, I kinda told her to answer the door for the deliveries for Mom's party!"

Lucas lets out a frustrated sigh. "So you're telling me that our Keeper is going to be unavailable precisely when we _need_ her, most likely?"

Nick attempts to smile as he says, "Yes, pretty much!" Lucas and I both frown at him and he says, "Sorry!"

"Let's take cover over there!" Lucas says, changing the subject. We run as fast as we can into a part of the forest that hasn't yet been burnt up by lava or uprooted by Lavion.

Eventually we stop, our breathing heavy, as we can't run any further and we seem to have put enough distance between us and the attack of the falling tree-trunks. That sounds like an interesting movie!

We pant as we try to get our breath back. "We'll be safe in here!" Lucas says.

Yeah, I'm not so sure about that one!

I watch as the treetrunk Lucas had been leaning against suddenly springs to life. "Or... _not!_ " I exclaim, pointing at whatever or whoever it is.

Nick and Lucas let out cries of shock as they turn their heads to see the Gormiti who raises its thin, green arms before letting out a fierce roar. They back away slightly when suddenly the Gormiti speaks.

"Greetings, younglings!" he says, sounding considerably less threatening. "I hope my anomalous physiognomy does not offend your orbs!"

"Oh, it's a friendly Gormiti!" Nick says with relief.

"I am Cannon Trunk!" The Gormiti introduces himself. "Friend to thou and foe to the destroyers of this most ancient wood!"

This guy has such a weird way of talking but at least he hasn't attacked us or mistaken us for the bad guys! I find myself letting out a questioning noise, however, and Lucas elaborates with, "He means he's on our side!"

Oh, well, that's more like it! "Good!" I exclaim. "Because we're here to stop those guys!" I point behind me to indicate that I mean Lavion and Bombos.

"Ooh, excellent news!" Cannon Trunk says eagerly before he frowns and adds with a hint of concern in his tone, "I fear however you may not possess the fortitude to achieve said goal!"

As though she had timed it to perfection, Jessica _finally_ projects her image beside us. "I'm back, guys! Sorry!" she says apologetically. "Ready to rock?"

The three of us grin at each other as Lucas exclaims, "Always!" Jessica's image disappears and Lucas addresses our new friend. "Give us a sec, Cannon Trunk, and we'll be ready!"

Cannon Trunk gives us a quizzical look in response.

"Let's do it!" Jessica says, indicating that we are ready to go.

"Elemental powers flow!" The three of us call out together.

"Powers of the Sea!" I yell as I transform.

Once we've all transformed, Cannon Trunk exclaims, "Most impressive, young masters!" He then gestures to Lucas as he adds, "And _you_ , sir, really are the new Lord of the Forest!" Lucas bows slightly in response. "Let us now deliver defeat to our adversaries!" he declares, raising a fist.

The four of us start running back towards the volcano in order to confront Lavion and Bombos.

As we get closer, a tree trunk gets thrown at us but Lucas shoots his bark-like fist at it, causing the trunk to shatter.

We continue running when suddenly a second tree trunk is thrown. Nick fires several small yet sharp rocks out of his hand and destroys the trunk, breaking it apart.

Apparently, Lavion has decided that tree trunks aren't working because the next thing that gets thrown at us is a...rock!

Nick once again fires rocks out of his hand to destroy it. I let out a startled cry as the chunks from the destroyed rock start to fall towards us. I transform my left hand into a claw and hit the rock chunks back towards Lavion.

This continues on for some time. Lavion and Bombos throw tree trunks at us and we take it in turns to destroy them.

As Lavion prepares to throw another tree trunk at us, I notice Cannon Trunk scooping up some rocks before putting them in the hole on top of his head. I watch in awe as he fires them out of the hole just like a cannon. Guess that's how he got his name! The rocks travel so fast through the air, they actually catch fire and disintegrate the tree trunk Lavion had thrown.

"Dude, did you see that?" I exclaim to Lucas, all of us having come to a temporary stop, as the remnants of the tree trunk rain down on us. "Totally awesome!"

"Whoa!" Nick suddenly yells. "Jessica, we need a fix on any weak points in Lavion's attack!"

"Guys, somebody's at the door again!" Jessica says. "Hang 'til I get back!"

Lavion throws another rock at us, causing us all to let out cries of shock as we step back to avoid being squashed. "I hope we're still here when she gets back!" I yell to the others as I look down at the rock.

We have no time to rest, though, as Lavion and Bombos are not letting up. After Lucas destroys yet another tree trunk, he says impatiently, "What's taking Jessica so long?"

"Okay, guys!" Jessica says a few seconds later. "I'm back!"

"Just in time!" Lucas says before Jessica gasps and lets out a frustrated groan.

"What _now?_ A _piñata_?" she asks, annoyed.

After a while, it becomes clear that Jessica's probably not going to be available anytime soon. We cry out as another rock gets hurled at us.

"We need a new game plan!" Lucas says. "One that doesn't involve the Keeper's help!"

Nick steps forward. "I think I have one," he informs us, "but it'll take all four of us to pull it off!"

He goes over his plan briefly. Once we all understand what our roles are, we get to work.

Cannon Trunk fires rocks out of the hole on his head, the rocks being put in by Lucas and I. Lavion counters by throwing a rock but the blast of rocks easily destroys it. Bombos attempts to stop our second attack by throwing a tree trunk but, just like before, the rocks completely disintegrate the bark.

We continue this for some time. Suddenly I hear Nick let out a roar in the distance, having run further up the path to the volcano, and a huge thud as he slams his fists into the ground. A huge fissure forms and Lavion cries out, "Noooo!" as he and Bombos fall into the zig-zag shaped crack.

Nick runs back down the path and Lucas stamps his foot onto the ground. I watch as strong brown vines burst from the ground before wrapping around the top of the volcano, squeezing it tightly. Cannon Trunk fires some rocks directly into the crater, blocking the continuous flow of black smoke. He laughs eagerly and seems very cheerful as Lucas removes his vines from around the volcano.

We look up at the sky and see the black smoke from the volcano disappearing almost instantly. The three of us chuckle and cheer as we exchange high and low fives.

"Well done, young masters!" Cannon Trunk praises us as he approaches.

Lucas holds his hand out. "Gimme bark!" he says. Canon Trunk raises an eyebrow in confusion but slaps his hand against Lucas' rather hard. I see Lucas flinch and judging by the loud thud, that had to have hurt! "Ow!" he exclaims, wincing slightly, as Nick and I laugh.

Cannon Trunk raises his hand to us before saying, "Fare ye well!" and leaving for the forest, I guess.

"He packs quite a wallop!" Lucas exclaims, looking down at his hand. "I'm sure glad he's on _our_ side!" He turns his head to look at us before adding, "Come on, let's scoot! Jessica, you there?"

As we probably should have expected, there is no response from her. Nick and I look at each other before saying together, "Another delivery!"

Lucas shrugs and starts to walk off. "Well, nothing to do except kick it until she gets back!" he says.

I start to follow them when something I can see within my peripheral vision catches my attention, causing me to stop in my tracks. I turn my head to see a flower with a pink center and white petals.

At first, it doesn't seem all that remarkable. However, as I approach it and gently touch the flower, the dark pink center opens up to reveal pale pink petals. "Wow!" I exclaim as the flower seems to glow. It's the prettiest flower I've ever seen. Wait a minute. Mom likes flowers, right? "Toby, am I thinking what I'm thinking?"

I look behind me to check that nobody is around. Once I know I'm alone, I use my claw to gently cut the stem of the flower and hold it in my hands. "Lame presents are no more!" I declare.

Hiding the flower behind my back, I run to find Nick and Lucas. When I see them, Nick is leaning against a rock and Lucas is tapping his feet against the ground impatiently. "Jessica still not there?" I ask and they both shake their heads.

Eventually, after what seems like _forever_ , Jessica finally projects her image beside us. "Sorry, guys!" she says apologetically. "I think that's the last of the deliveries!" She pauses to let out a relieved sigh before adding, "Give me a second and I'll bring you guys back!"

The three of us stand in a circle and I ask Nick, "Seriously, bro, how many orders did you make?"

"A fair few," he replies, "considering that we needed decorations and other party equipment."

We look up as the portal forms above our heads and we start to rise up into it, coming out of the Gorm Gate into the Primal Pad, back in human form.

"Can I just say," Jessica says as we run over to her, "that, first of all, I will be so happy if I never see another delivery person again! Second, if there _are_ any more deliveries, one of _you_ can get the door this time!" She shakes her head. "My hand feels numb after signing for so many parcels!"

We start to walk up the stairs back into the kitchen. "Let's check what we've got and we can finish getting everything ready before the guests arrive!" Nick suggests.

"Good idea, bro!" I say. "You guys get started with that - I've got something I need to do!"

Before any of them can say anything, I dash off to the garden. None of them seem to notice the flower I am hiding. I open the shed door and step inside, scanning the shelves until I find an empty plant pot. I fill it up with soil and carefully place the flower inside.

"Well, that's that taken care of!" I mutter to myself before running back inside to help the others finish getting the party ready. I mentally remind myself to remember to get the flower before Mom and Dad get back.

It takes us a couple of hours for everything to be ready. The food is set out on the counter, the decorations are up and we have been answering the door to the guests for the party. The room is soon filled with people, chatting in a lively tone.

Everybody is standing in the living room, waiting patiently. Nick's phone beeps and he pulls it out of his pocket to read the message. "That was Dad!" he says when he's finished. "He says they're on their way back now!"

"I'll be back in a minute!" I say, remembering that I need to get my present. I head back to the shed and grab the plant pot before running back inside the house.

Barely a few moments later, the front door handle jiggles and, as Dad opens the door, we all yell, "Surprise!"

Mom lets out a happy exclamation when she turns her head and sees everybody. "Oh, you didn't have to!" she says.

"The credit belongs to these thoughtful kids right here!" Dad tells her, gesturing to the four of us. "They planned the whole thing!"

Mom walks forward and hugs Jessica who is the only one of us not holding a gift. I guess she must have put hers on the table with the pile of presents from the guests.

"At least this time I got the right gift!" I say to myself, looking down at the plant pot.

However, I should really learn to think before I speak!

I let out a horrified cry as several creepers start bursting out of the soil and run outside as they start waving around. I head around to the front of the house and open the bin before throwing the plant pot inside and putting the lid back on. "I knew it was too good to be true!" I say before I go back inside.

When I enter the room, I see that the party is already in full swing. The guests are chatting animatedly and music is playing. "Oh, Toby, _there_ you are!" Mom calls me over. "I cut you a slice of cake!"

"Thanks, Mom!" I say, taking the plate she offers me with a slice of chocolate cake on it before I walk over to the others.

"Way to go, guys!" I say. "I don't remember ever seeing Mom this happy!"

"Me neither!" Nick agrees, after swallowing a mouthful of cake. "It's nice to do something for your parents once in a while - after all, they do everything for us!"

Lucas nods, smiling, and Jessica says, "It sure is!"

She sounds happy enough when she says it but I'm sure I hear a wistful undertone in her voice, though I'm the only one who does.

I decide to walk over to the window and, as I pass her, I ask, "What are you thinking about?"

She looks up at me and replies cheerfully, "Oh, nothing much! Just thinking about what it would be like if this were a surprise party for _my_ mom."

"How _would_ she react?" I question, genuinely curious.

Though her voice sounds cheerful when she speaks, I notice her expression drop slightly. "She wouldn't like it," she tells me. "She doesn't like m- anything that's had anything to do with me..."

She mutters this last part so quietly that it's a miracle I even manage to hear it at all and I get the feeling I wasn't supposed to. "She doesn't like the attention," she adds at normal volume before holding up her plate. "This cake is delicious!"

"I'll agree to that!" I exclaim as I recognize that she is changing the subject. I don't know if she knows that I heard what she didn't want me to hear but I figure I should probably give her some space for now, just in case. If I want to find out what's going on with her and her mom, the last thing I should do is make it obvious that I know something's up too soon.

I wander over to the window and take another bite of cake. As I look out of the window, I swallow hard and blink as the house seems to be getting higher for some reason.

"Did - did you see-" I ask, my voice slightly higher than normal, as I turn around to face Nick and Lucas while pointing at the window.

Nick looks up. "Yeah!" he exclaims. "It's doing that funky day-into-night thing again!"

"That, and we're sort of off the ground too!" I point out.

I watch Nick and Lucas walk over to the window and look out, seeing their expressions of shock. " _Sort of_?" Nick cries out. "We're _way_ off the ground! This is definitely not good! How did it happen?"

"Uh, I...have no idea!" I say nervously, crossing my fingers behind my back.

They both look at me, frowning. "Tell me you _didn't_ bring a plant back with you!" Lucas says.

I figure I may as well come clean now. "Uh, any plant in particular?" I ask.

"Toby!" they say together, exasperatedly.

I look at them, wondering what the big deal is. "Aw, come on!" I exclaim. "It's just a little plant!"

Lucas gives me an _oh, really?_ look as he says, "Really? Well, it's not little anymore!"

"Toby, you know the rule on not bringing Gorm stuff back through the gate!" Nick lectures me.

"There's a rule?" I ask, confused. I'm pretty sure I don't remember ever being told that we aren't supposed to bring stuff from Gorm back to Earth. "Are you sure it's not more of a guideline?"

"It's a _rule!"_ They say together firmly, looking unimpressed.

"Sheesh, _now_ you tell me!" I exclaim.

The three of us make our way into the kitchen and head back to the Primal Pad. Jessica is already there, standing with Razzle perched on her shoulder.

We run to join her and look up at the screen which shows an image of the volcano with lava flowing out of the crater once again. "Lavion's back!" I exclaim, figuring that it's the only explanation.

"We know!" Razzle says before he and Jessica start frowning. "And it looks like _someone_ introduced a Gorm plant into your world!"

I can feel Nick and Lucas' gaze on me and I lower my head before admitting, "Um, that would be me."

Jessica lets out a surprised gasp before Nick says, "Lucas and I will deal with Lavion! Jessica, you take the Keeper's chair! Toby, you stay here and keep an eye on the party!" I lower my head again and frown, letting out a gasp, as he puts his hand on my shoulder and adds, " _And_ your flower!"

"After you defeat Lavion, you'll need to find the taproot to Toby's flower and destroy it!" Razzle informs them.

"Check and check!" Nick and Lucas say in unison, grinning before they run to the Gorm Gate and jump in.

I let out a sigh as I watch them go before I head back up the stairs. For now, I have a party to keep an eye on.

I walk back into the living room and make my way over to the window. Nobody says anything, much to my relief. As I look out of the window, I find myself letting out a nervous whimper as I see how high the house has been lifted.

A creeper rises up to the window and I hastily turn around, laugh nervously and block it from the view of a party-guest who is walking past. Once they've gone, I rub my hand across my forehead and sigh with relief.

I have no time to be relieved, however, as Dad approaches the window. "I wonder what's causing this wacky weather?" he asks as he gets closer.

Letting out a nervous cry, I hastily pull the curtains shut, exclaiming, "It's probably just fog...or smog...or _smoggy fog!"_ Dad gives me a weird look as I grin at him before he walks away.

Once again, I breathe a sigh of relief. I get the feeling that this is going to be a _long_ day!

Things are pretty uneventful for a while until one of the creepers starts tapping at the window. I hit the window before hastily sliding the curtains shut again before anybody notices it.

As I turn my back to the window, I lament, "First lame-o toenail clippers and now _this!_ Why didn't I just get her a box of chocolates? They're sweet and they don't force your house into the stratosphere!"

"Great party but I think we'd better get going!"

"See you later!"

Oh no!

I look up and let out a nervous cry as I see the guests walking towards the front door, oblivious to the danger of leaving the house at this time. This is _not_ good! I have to stop them! Dashing between the guests, I race to the front door and hold my hand up, causing them all to gasp. "You can't go now!" I insist. "It's too stormy out!" I place one of my hands firmly on the door for good measure to hold it shut.

Dad looks confused as he says, "It may be dark but I haven't heard any thunder!"

"It's silent thunder!" I try to explain. " _Much_ more dangerous! I think you'd better stay inside!"

Mom laughs disbelievingly. "Silent thunder? Nonsense!" she says and I find myself whimpering as she approaches the front door and opens it. "There is _nothing_ to be afraid of!"

I hastily shut the door with my palm. " _No one_ can leave!" I say firmly, holding the door shut tight.

"Toby, I'm sure everyone will be alright!" Mom says, sounding confused. "A little rain never hurt anyone!"

I hold my hands up as I blurt out, "It's not the _rain_ that'll hurt - it's the _fall!"_

"What?" Mom questions, raising an eyebrow. Oops!

Realizing that I need to change my strategy before anyone gets suspicious, I say nervously, "I mean it's time to..." My gaze lands on the table of still-wrapped presents. This causes everybody else to look in that direction too.

"Open my presents!" Mom exclaims eagerly, smiling at me. She starts walking over to the table and, to my relief, the guests follow. Crisis averted...for now. I find myself sighing with relief yet again.

I don't exactly know how long I've been keeping an eye on things up here but I'm kinda getting bored. There's no harm in checking how the others are doing, right?

While everybody is distracted by Mom opening her presents, I seize my opportunity and sneak off into the kitchen before heading back down into the Primal Pad.

"How's it going?" I ask as I run over to the control panel.

"I don't know," Jessica replies, looking at the screen before turning her head to face me. "How would you term trapped up in a tree by rising lava?"

"Bad?" I say, raising an eyebrow.

"Then it's going bad!" she tells me before looking back at the screen.

When I had come down here, I had _wanted_ to go back to the Gorm but, after hearing that things aren't going so well for the others, I know I _need_ to go. "You've gotta send me to Gorm to help!" I insist.

She raises a couple of crystals and states, "Thought _you_ were watching the party!"

Yeah, do you know how bored I was being stuck in one place for so long?

"I _was!"_ I exclaim exasperatedly. "But Nick and Lucas need my help! _You'll_ have to watch the party!"

Jessica turns her head to face me so quickly that I'm momentarily worried she might have given herself whiplash. She gives me an _are you serious right now?_ look as she says incredulously, "So you expect me to watch the party _and_ monitor you guys in Gorm...all at the same time!" She points at me as she speaks and I can tell she's trying to work out if I'm actually being serious.

I realize it's a lot to handle for one person but, hey, I wouldn't have asked if I didn't think she could manage it! I shrug before responding, "I knew you could do it, Jess!" I throw in a wink for good measure.

It seems to convince her as she sighs and says, "Fine, you're good to glow!" After this go-ahead, I start running towards the Gorm Gate. "And hurry up!" she tells me. "If we don't stop Lavion, this smoke is going to cover our entire planet!"

As I jump into the Gorm Gate, I make a mental note to remember that I owe her big time. "Powers of the Sea!" I yell as I transform once again.

I land on the ground close to a tree that is sinking slowly into the lava from the volcano. Looking up, I can see three very familiar faces sticking out amongst the leaves and branches.

"Need some help?" I call to them and they turn their heads, looking very surprised to see me.

"If you're not busy!" Nick responds once he gets over the shock of seeing me.

I look around for something that can help and my gaze falls on a tree close to where I'm standing. "Hang on!" I tell them. I walk over to the tree and push against with all my strength. It takes some effort but I manage to push it over so that it forms a bridge from the tree to safety.

They run across the makeshift bridge immediately but I can tell that I am going to get questioned on why I'm here. Sure enough, Nick asks, "Aren't you supposed to be watching Mom's party?"

"I got bored!" I tell him honestly.

Nick's eyes go wide as he asks, "What about-"

"Jessica has it covered!" I reply. They both look at me and I grin sheepishly. Hey, I can't help getting bored!

We look across at the other side where Lavion and Bombos are. As usual, Lavion starts bragging, "The skies will soon be dark and then, in the eternal night, the great Lavion will conquer _all_ of Gorm!" He hits his fist against his chest for emphasis.

Yeesh, can't he talk about anything other than himself and how _great_ he is? "It's always lava with these guys!" I exclaim.

"We've gotta put out this fire before it burns the whole forest!" Nick says as we watch the trees burning.

Cannon Trunk suddenly speaks up and I almost jump when I hear his voice. "A gentle rain always cools the forest. Perhaps it can also cool the molten stone!" he suggests.

"Of course!" Nick realizes. "And harden it into a rock dam! But where would we get that much water?"

Um, hello, your brother, Lord of Water, here! I step forward, saying, "Water? Did somebody mention water? _I_ _'ve_ got you covered!"

I walk out to the edge of the ledge and raise my right arm in the air as I cry out, "The power of the sea!" I take control of a stream of water that rises up and I let out a cry as it swirls around. As I clench my fist tightly, it rushes towards the fire before I quickly open my fist and it rains down on the fire and lava, causing yellow steam to form.

"No!" I hear Lavion yell as he is bombarded by the steam.

"No!" This time I hear the yells of Lavion and Bombos as I clench my fist again and they start coughing as the yellow steam washes over them, leaving them trapped in hardened rock.

The plume of yellow steam disappears and the skies are clear of black smoke. Pretty good, if I do say so myself! "Stopping lava - piece of cake!" I exclaim.

Wait a minute!

" _Cake!"_ I yell frantically, turning to face the others. "We've gotta find the taproot to that flower before Mom's party goes into _outer space!"_

The others gasp as though they had forgotten about the other thing they had been asked to do.

"Let's not waste time, then," Nick says decisively. "Toby, do you remember where the flower was?"

"Uh..." To be honest, I couldn't remember precisely. I had been so eager to have finally found a gift worth giving Mom that I hadn't really made a note of the location. "I don't know - close to where we were when we were gated back, I think."

"That doesn't narrow it down much," Lucas mutters before he gets an _I've had a great idea!_ look in his eyes and he turns to Cannon Trunk. "Excuse me, Cannon Trunk," he says. "I'm sorry to be a bother but do you think you could ask some of the Forest Gormiti here to help us look for the taproot to a flower?"

"But of course!" Cannon Trunk says. "It is the least I can do after you helped save our forest!"

"Thank you very much!" Lucas calls after him as the Forest Gormiti disappears into the forest.

"Good thinking, Lucas!" Nick says. "The more people we have looking, the better chance we'll have of finding that taproot sooner rather than later!"

After a few moments, Cannon Trunk returns with two other Gormiti I recognize. One of them is Mimic, the Forest Gormiti we had helped out before, back when Lavion first returned to Gorm after being stuck in a portal. The other - whose name I don't yet know - was the Forest Gormiti we saw competing in the secret tournament that was discovered and gatecrashed by Lavor and Magmion.

Cannon Trunk appears to be explaining the situation to them and, after he finishes, they start walking around, presumably looking for the taproot.

We watch them in silence until Nick asks curiously, "So what was with the flower anyhow?"

"I was just tired of always having a lamer gift than you," I admit before adding wistfully, "and Mom _really_ loves flowers!"

"Taking a Gorm plant back into our world is what's lame!" he admonishes me, though he doesn't sound too mad.

"Yeah, I know that... _now!"_ I say.

"Methinks I have found something!" Cannon Trunk exclaims suddenly and the three of us run over to see him pointing at a taproot. "Is this the taproot ye seek?"

I look closely at it and see that it looks like it is. "That's the one," I say, stepping forward and tugging it out of the ground. "Sweet!"

The Forest Gormiti leave after we thank them for their help. "Well," Lucas says. "Guess we just have to wait for Jessica to gate us back!"

As it turns out, we don't have to wait long. "You guys would not _believe_ how close that was!" Jessica exclaims as she projects her image beside us.

"Everything okay?" Nick asks her.

"Yeah, but if you guys had taken any longer finding that taproot, it might have been a whole different story!" she replies. "The guests were leaving and I didn't know how to stop them. Oh, and your parents now probably think I'm weird!"

"I wouldn't worry," I tell her. "They probably think _I'm_ weird too!" Hey, we can be weird buddies!

"Well, weirdness aside," Lucas interrupts, amused. "Could you gate us back now, Jess?"

"Oh, yeah, sure!" comes her hasty reply. The portal soon forms above our heads and we rise up, coming out of the Gorm Gate into the Primal Pad.

Jessica jumps down from the chair as we run over to her. She points at me as I approach and says firmly, "You owe me _big_ time, mister!" I look up at her in surprise and see a glint of mirth in her eyes - I know then she's only joking.

Still, I don't want to seem like I don't appreciate what she did - when I really do- so I say sincerely, "Thanks for helping out, Jess! I know I shouldn't have made you abandon your Keeper duties just because I wanted to go back to the Gorm but-"

"To be fair," Lucas interjects, "if you hadn't shown up when you did, not only would Nick and I still be stuck in that burning tree with Cannon Trunk but if we had gotten out, we _still_ would have had trouble stopping Lavion!"

I find myself not really paying attention to him, however, as I am too busy looking at Jessica who looks momentarily surprised at what I had said before smiling gratefully at me, seeming glad that I was thankful for her help.

For some reason, this causes my stomach to feel all... _flippy_ \- not again! - before I remember something that brings me back down to earth.

I look down at the taproot in my hands. "Guess I'd better get rid of this, huh?" I say, looking at the others.

"That's...probably for the best," Nick says, Lucas and Jessica nodding in agreement.

I lead the way up the stairs and once we're in the kitchen, the others head into the living room while I head outside to the bin.

"Guess it's back to lame gifts again!" I say gloomily as I open the lid and throw the taproot inside before closing it again.

"Toby?" Mom calls from inside the house. "Where are you? We're opening your present!"

My shoulders slump as I mutter, "Time to face the music!" and head back inside, hoping that Mom won't be _too_ disappointed with the toenail clippers.

I walk into the living room and stand in front of Mom who is holding the box in her hands. She opens it and I brace myself for the _that's lovely, dear, but..._ speech she ends up giving me every year.

Instead what I hear is a surprised and _happy_ sounding gasp as Mom takes out the toenail clippers and exclaims, "Oh, how did you know? It's _just_ what I wanted!"

Wait...huh? I find myself blinking at her. Am I dreaming or something?

"This will be _perfect_ to trim your father's gnarly toenails!" Mom explains as she glances at Dad - who looks mildly embarrassed. Yeah, I'm pretty sure I didn't need to know _that_ , Mom!

I can hear Nick and Jessica laughing at Dad's expense as Mom hugs me. I hug her back and see Nick wink at me. "I...had a hunch," I say as I wink back at him.

I still can't believe that, of all the things Mom could have wanted for her birthday, she wanted _toenail clippers!_

Guess my lame gift wasn't so lame after all!

* * *

 _AN: Thank you so much for being so patient with me, guys! I know I take forever to write these but I want to make sure I don't rush and make lots of silly errors :-)_

 _Hope you enjoyed reading and I'll see you all next time! Andi, out!_


	14. Chapter 13 - Shock to the System

_AN: Hello, and welcome back to ROTLON! I hope you guys enjoyed the start to Gormiti Love version 2!_

 _I've decided to alternate between writing a ROTLON chapter one week and a Gormiti Love oneshot the next so get those requests in (see the ending AN in the first oneshot for more details)_

 _With that out of the way, let's continue, shall we?_

* * *

"I _cannot_ believe we are actually wasting our time with this!" I exclaim to the others.

At the moment, the four of us are upstairs working on a group project set by Miss McGurk. Well, I say the four of us - you won't catch _me_ working on it, that's for sure!

"We've gotta get it done, Toby!" Nick reminds me as he types away feverishly on the keyboard.

I groan before saying, "Yeah, yeah," and wandering off to find something to entertain myself. We had been working on this project all day and it was now dark outside so honestly, I think it's a miracle that I'm only just starting to get _really_ bored!

As I look around, I spot a magic wand and pick it up before getting the brilliant idea to do an impression of Miss McGurk. I walk up and down as I talk in a voice that sounds like our teacher, "To understand the impact of financial ecosystems is to understand the financial powers that shape our world today!" Then I drop the magic wand on the floor as I exclaim, "Oh, did I say ecosystems? I meant financial _geek_ -o-systems!"

I slump down on the floor and pretend to fall asleep. Jessica starts giggling as I stand up and take a bow. She claps and says, "Toby, that is _so_ Miss McGurk!"

"You laugh but we still have to turn in this group project if we wanna pass the class!" Lucas reminds us, causing us both to groan disappointedly.

"It could be worse!" Nick says, still typing away.

"Are you kidding?" I ask him incredulously. "This is _McGurk!_ Our project will have to be a total snooze-fest for her to even _consider_ a passing grade!"

Nick pauses and says, "Okay, you're right," before adding firmly, "but they're still due tomorrow!"

I think for a moment and reply hopefully, "Unless...Fate steps in with a miracle!" I then turn around and call out, "Come on Fate!" When nothing happens, I try again, "Hello? Anyone? _Fate_?"

Suddenly Lucas lets out a surprised cry. I turn around just in time to see the screen on the monitor go black. "Awesome!" I exclaim.

Nick, however, doesn't seem to agree as he lets out a scream before saying, "I didn't save the work! It's gone, vanished, kaput!"

I pick up a flashlight from the nearby desk and switch it on, shining onto my face as I say casually, "Dad's probably changing a lightbulb!"

The four of us wander to the window and look outside. It's as dark as anything out there because the streetlamps are not lit up like they should be. "It's not Dad," Nick says, as I shine the flashlight through the window. "The power's out everywhere! A major grid must have shut down!"

This is _brilliant!_ "Yes!" I yell happily.

"What do you mean ' _yes!'_?" Nick snaps agitatedly. "This is a _no_ , Toby!" he adds as he walks away from the window. "A super banana panic _no!"_

Why is he panicking about this? Having no power is the best news ever! "Oh, it's a _no_ , alright!" I tell him. "As in no power means... no school!"

"The school has a backup generator specifically for just such an emergency," Nick reminds me as he sits down on his bed. He flops onto his back and adds, "You're not getting out of this so easily!"

I dash over to him and he sits up as I exclaim, "You mean...I might _actually_ have to work on this thing?" Please tell me this is a joke! I don't want to work on it - there are plenty other more _important_ things I could be doing instead!

Lucas joins me and points out, "Not one section of our assignment is finished and the whole project is due tomorrow!" He looks miserable as he exclaims, "We're chumped!"

"Not necessarily!" Jessica says as she walks over to us, interrupting what I had been about to say. "I was on my way over to the computer lab at the school! I reserved time just in case!"

"Saved!" Nick and Lucas exclaim happily.

"Doomed!" I say mournfully.

 _"Speaking of which!"_

The four of us scream as we turn to see Razzle's head poking out from behind one of the speakers. Of course, this causes Razzle to scream as well. "Razzle!" Nick and Jessica exclaim.

The lizard steps out from behind the speaker, saying, "Hey, who wants to do homework when you could be saving the world, eh?"

I blink at him, still not recovered from the shock he gave me, as Nick takes charge. "Come on, guys, let's go!" he says as we leave the room and head downstairs to the kitchen.

We walk into the pantry, Nick closing the doors behind us, and use the panel to access the Primal Pad, running down the steps and going to stand in front of the control panel.

Razzle hops up onto the control panel as he begins his explanation. "The Fire Gormiti Orrore has conjured some secret weapon! It's rumored to be the most powerful and terrible weapon in the Gorm!" he tells us.

"What kind of weapon?" I ask him.

Razzle frowns as he replies, "I don't know but it's up to you guys to find out and disable it before Orrore gets a chance to use it on anyone!"

We run to stand around the Gorm Gate and cry out, "Elementals!"

"Air!" Jessica begins.

"Water!" I shout.

"Forest!" Lucas yells.

"Earth!" Nick finishes.

"Reveal to us the Keeper and give to them your chair!" we call out.

The chair starts to spin around and Razzle says, "And the Keeper is..." before the chair comes to a stop, showing a green icon with the Forest symbol on the back, "...Forest!" He runs over to Lucas and announces, "That's you, Lucas!"

"Get it?" Lucas says as he starts to run towards the chair. "Sit?" He jumps into the chair which rises up until he is level with the control panel. "Looks like I'm gonna sit this one out!"

That joke was terrible! "That's your _worst_ joke yet!" I tell him and he narrows his eyes at me.

"And if anyone knows a bad joke, it's you, Toby!" Jessica decides to point out. I stare at her, unable to come up with a comeback. My jokes aren't that bad, surely.

Lucas uses the crystals on the control panel to activate the Gorm Gate and the three of us, along with Razzle, jump in.

We float down, gripping each other's hands in a circle and land in a cave. "Wow!" Jessica exclaims as she turns around to look behind her. "Look at all this stuff!"

There are loads of weird things around here as well as a few tunnels that lead deeper into wherever this cavern goes.

"That is _weird!"_ Lucas says from inside the Primal Pad. "Let me see if I can find something about them."

The three of us start to wander around while we wait for Lucas to get back to us. As I walk, I spot a glowing blue orb surrounded by four spikes. "I wonder what this thing does!" I say curiously, reaching my hand out to touch it.

"Toby, _no!"_ I hear Nick yell. The next thing I know, I feel my little brother slam into me, knocking me to the floor. I hear a metallic clink and look up at the orb to see that the spikes have closed around it.

Well, that was close!

"Hey!" Lucas says suddenly. "I wouldn't touch anything if I were you! It says here that Orrore is a collector of deadly devices, traps and other nefarious contraptions!"

I stand up, a little winded from Nick's body slam and say breathlessly, "Thanks for the advice!" as Nick gets up next to me.

Suddenly Jessica dashes towards us. She grabs my arm with one hand and covers my mouth with the other, effectively silencing me. And the tingling returns! "Shhh!" she hisses. "I hear something!" She lets go of me and says, "Come on!" to us before leading the way into the tunnel.

We walk for a way until we see Orrore with a group of Lava soldiers. Hiding behind a bunch of jagged rocks, we listen in on what he is saying. "Behold the magic crystals of my energy cannon!" We see a machine with blue crystals, two of them much larger than the rest. "They gather energy from the very air around us and project them as destructive bolts of power!"

Razzle whimpers, ducking behind a rock. We watch as Orrore activates the weapon and take the same action as Razzle.

There is a huge flash of light followed by a bang as Orrore fires the weapon. I cover my ears and momentarily turn my head to see Nick and Jessica doing the same thing.

The blast causes part of the cave wall to crumble apart. "Lucky he wasn't pointing that thing at us!" Jessica exclaims.

"We're not the only ones hiding behind stalagmites!" Nick points out as he peeks over the top of the rock. "Look!"

"What _is_ that thing?" I ask, joining him. It looks like no creature I've ever seen. It stands on four legs, has a tail and makes a strange squeaky sound.

The blue glow on the creature fades off, revealing it to have brown skin with reddish-brown scales, I guess.

"Who let that mongrel in here?" Orrore asks, not looking at all happy. Well, he's a bad guy - are they _ever_ happy? "What kind of evil force would I be if I let every stray just wander into my lair, disrupting me in my evil demonstrations? _Simply unacceptable!_ " He goes to activate the weapon a second time, the crystals pointing at the creature. "I shall have to teach the mutt a lesson!"

The three of us run out from behind the rocks. None of us are willing to sit around and watch an innocent creature get hurt by a creep like Orrore. "Maybe you should pick on somebody your own size!" I suggest angrily, glaring at him.

" _More_ strays?" Orrore yells. "This is exactly the kind of distraction I was talking about! Intruders, wayfarers, transients come to spoil my demonstration! You are an affront to my evilness!" He narrows his eyes and adds, "Prepare to feel the wrath of my energy cannon!" before letting out an evil laugh.

"Elemental powers flow, Gormiti - Lords of Nature, go!" the three of us yell out together after Lucas confirms that we are at full power.

"Powers of the Sea!" I shout as I transform.

"Lords of Nature!" Orrore sneers. "You think your transformation intimidates me?" He turns his energy cannon to face us as he adds, "You have yet to see me throw the full wrath of my evil upon you!"

"Yep!" Jessica says, unimpressed. "Just another typical villain talking about himself _again!_ It's no wonder you guys never get any dates!" She flies up into the air and swoops down towards Orrore who is preparing to fire the energy cannon. Nick and I watch as a blue beam of light shoots towards Jessica. "But it's never too late to learn a-" The beam hits her, causing her to glow blue like that creature from before. "A lesson..." she says, her voice faint. "What's...happening to me?" Orrore laughs as she adds, "The cannon...feeling faint!"

"Thanks for the energy, losers!" Orrore yells. "First you fall to the ground," he manipulates one of the crystals, causing Jessica to fall to the ground. "Then you fall into my grip!"

"Jessica!" Nick yells, running forward to try and help her as she hits the ground hard. However, Orrore fires another beam from the energy cannon which strikes him, sending him backwards until he lands at my feet, also glowing blue. He struggles to speak as he says, "The energy...has grounded me! Can't...move!"

"Hang on, bro! I'll save ya!" I yell as I run forward and grab Nick by his shoulders, attempting to pull him to his feet. However, I cannot move any part of my body. "I'm...stuck!" I shout as I realize that the energy grounding Nick is now also grounding me.

I cannot move one bit but I can hear Orrore laughing. "With this weapon, nothing will stand in my way! Orrore will be ruler of the Lava Nation, ruler of all of Gorm!" he declares. The crowd of Lava Soldiers starts to applaud and cheer.

Suddenly the creature we had seen before charges forward and leaps onto one of the larger crystals on the cannon, letting out a fierce roar at Orrore, causing him to back away with a scream and fall over. This seems to amuse the Lava Soldiers who start sniggering at Orrore's misfortune.

The creature starts swinging its tail, breaking off bits of crystal. Crackles of blue lightning surround the weapon as more and more crystals get broken off.

Eventually, the blue glow surrounding Nick and I fades and we find ourselves able to move again. I rub my head slightly as Nick stands up, letting out a groan as he wobbles backwards. "That thing zapped the life outta me!" he complains, rubbing the back of his head as I stand up.

"Come on!" I say, moving past him. "We have to get Jessica!"

We run over to her as she sits up slowly and asks rather breathlessly, "W-what happened?" We help her up and the creature, squeaking away, jumps off the weapon and runs over to us.

"Don't just stand there!" Orrore yells angrily as he stands up. "Get the crystal pieces and fix the weapon!"

As we watch the Lava Soldiers clumsily scramble about picking up broken bits of crystal, Nick suggests in a hushed voice, "I think we should get out of here while they're distracted!"

We run back through the same tunnel, the creature running alongside us, tongue lolling out. It kind of reminds me of a dog in a way.

Eventually, once we think we're far enough and hear no signs of them coming after us, we come to a stop.

I step forward and cautiously peek out at the entrance to the cavern we had just left. Breathing a sigh of relief, I turn around to the others and say, "That was a close one!"

"Especially for this little guy!" Nick says, referring to the creature. "Good boy!"

The creature begins to make a squeaky noise as I kneel down and pet it. "Be careful, Toby!" Razzle says fussily. "You don't know where it's _been!"_ I try not to laugh as I raise an eyebrow at him and retort, "You sound like our mother!"

"I'm just saying!" Razzle responds huffily.

"Roll over!" Nick tells the creature eagerly. "Roll over!" I get up and back away as the creature walks around in a circle, wagging its tail. It really _does_ act a lot like a dog! Nick laughs and announces, "I think I'll call him _Copper!_ He can be our team mascot!"

I can guess that this won't make Razzle very happy. Sure enough, he protests, "W-what - what about me?"

Jessica laughs as she glides over to him and pets his head. "Don't worry, Razzle, we still love you!" she assures him.

Copper suddenly starts squeaking and, to our surprise, turns and starts running in the opposite direction. It looks like he's in a hurry to get to...wherever it is he's going. "Hey, wait, where are you going?" Nick calls after it, confused.

Lucas projects his image in front of us. "He's not the only one who needs to get somewhere! Your orbs are looking pretty empty!" he informs us.

"I wonder if we're gonna see him again!" Nick muses thoughtfully as the portal starts to form over our heads as we look up.

"By the orbs of Gorm!" the three of us yell together. I grip Nick and Jessica's hands and we rise up into the portal, coming out of the Gorm Gate in human form.

Lucas lowers the chair to the ground and jumps out. "Come on!" he says to us. "We've gotta get to the school! We still have time left for the computer lab!"

As one, the three of us groan disappointedly as we walk up to join him. "Orrore thinks _he's_ evil?" I mutter to Nick and Jessica. "That's 'cos he's never met Miss McGurk!"

I follow Lucas up the steps until we get back to the pantry. He cautiously opens the doors and we begin tiptoeing into the kitchen. We barely make any progress when I accidentally stand on the back of Lucas' foot. "Ow!" he whispers, holding said foot in his hands and balancing on the other.

"Watch where you're going!" I tell him.

Just then, a light illuminates our faces. We look up to see Dad. "Halt!" he says, holding a candle in his right hand and a golf club in his left. "Who goes there?"

"Dad!" Nick exclaims. "It's just us!"

"We live here, remember?" I remind him, nervously holding my hands up.

Dad frowns and responds, "In times of crisis, one must be _extra_ cautious!" He puts down the golf club and asks, "Where've you been?"

The four of us exchange glances, not entirely sure what to say. "Jessica's!" I say quickly.

"Lucas's!" Nick says just as quickly.

Dad raises an eyebrow at us. "We, uh, we get around!" I explain, grinning as widely as possible.

"Oh," Dad says. I think he's trying to make sense of my explanation. "Well, uh, you missed a call - someone from the school - a Miss McGurk?"

As we hear our teacher's name, my face drops, Jessica shudders and Lucas exclaims, "You're kidding!"

"What did she want?" I ask, dreading the answer.

"She wants her students to know that power or no, projects are _still_ due tomorrow!" Dad replies.

Well, I knew it was best not to get my hopes up!

"She's a tenacious bit of evil, isn't she?" Nick whispers to me and I nod. Seriously the Lava Gormiti could learn a thing or two from her!

Suddenly we hear Mom call, "Is dinner ready?" from the living room.

"On its way, dear!" Dad calls back, taking an open can and pouring the contents into an empty bowl. "Voilà!"

"Um, that's a can of _corn_ , Mr. Tripp!" Jessica points out as we gasp and look at the bowl, wondering why the corn has been served.

"Of course it is!" Dad responds. "It's not easy being a culinary master without power! You work with what you have! It's part of our creative genius!" As he finishes speaking, he picks up the bowl and starts to leave.

Okay, I'm a little hungry and all, but I don't think I'd eat uncooked corn.

"Uh, none for us, thanks!" Nick says. "We ate at, uh, _their_ places!" As one, we narrow our eyes at him.

We start to make our way into the hallway when Mom calls, "Are you kids heading to the school?"

"Yeah," Nick replies. "We've gotta finish our group project."

Lucas mutters under his breath. "You mean we have to _start_ our group project...again!"

He opens the front door and the four of us file out onto the porch, hearing Mom say, "Well, don't be too long, okay?"

We start to walk down the street and I cannot help slowing down a little - okay, a lot! - and lowering my head. I cannot believe that I am going to waste an entire evening doing _homework!_ There are plenty of other things I would rather do instead, like save the world, for instance.

I start to wonder how charged up our orbs are and momentarily wonder if I could persuade the others to ditch the homework plan so we could get back to Gorm. Immediately I mentally shake my head. They'd never go for it.

By this point, I must be really lagging behind as Jessica stops and turns to face me. "Come on, Toby! I booked an hour! We still have some time left!" She then turns and starts walking again.

"Wow! Great! Can't wait!" I say unenthusiastically as I follow, still thinking of all the things I'm missing out on.

We arrive at the school and find not only the backup generator working away but a huge line of students.

Lucas lets out a cry and he, Nick and Jessica run up to the boy at the back of the line. Meanwhile I continue to walk slowly - no point in rushing, after all.

"Hey, what's with the line-up?" Lucas asks curiously.

"Computer lab," I hear the boy inform him. "It's about a ten-hour wait from this point. I figure my group will finish our project just in time for breakfast tomorrow!"

"What?" Lucas panics as he and the others start whimpering and shaking. "Is everybody's project due _tomorrow?"_ he asks as I catch up to them.

"It's Miss McGurk, man!" the boy exclaims. "Miss McGurk! Everyone's triple spellchecking! We're doomed! _Doomed!"_

Lucas gasps and holds his head in his hands. "What are we gonna do?" he asks the rest of us, his voice sounding slightly higher than usual.

"Let _me_ handle this!" Jessica says calmly, starting to walk up the steps. The three of us shrug and follow her, remaining a couple of paces behind. When we finally reach the top of the stairs, we see Alistair Kinnel - who I swear is an even bigger nerd than my _brother_ and that's not easy! - holding a pen and a pad of paper. "Excuse me," Jessica says politely, "but I believe I had a reservation?" After a moment, we hear her exclaim, "Ah, yes, that's me - Jessica!" She gestures to us, Nick and Lucas raising their hands, adding, "Party of four?"

Alistair looks at his list before frowning and saying, "You're late. We gave it to someone else. Go to the back of the line."

"But - but..." Jessica stutters in protest.

"No _buts!"_ Alistair snaps, clearly not in the mood for excuses. "Back of the line!"

" _Yes!"_ I exclaim happily. This is the best news I've had all day! I get the feeling the others probably don't feel the same way, though.

"Well, we may as well head home now," Nick says as Jessica rejoins us. "No point in hanging around here, right?"

"Nope!" I say cheerfully. I don't have to do any homework right now so I am as happy as I could be at the moment. I even feel like _skipping_ all the way home and that's something I've _never_ seen myself doing.

As we head for home, I walk noticeably faster, trying to resist the urge to just outright run. When we had been heading to the school, I had been lagging behind but now I was out in front.

I open the front door and walk into the house. Mom and Dad had left some candles and a box of matches so I light a candle before going into the kitchen and grabbing a drink. I open it and down it in one gulp, thirsty after the journey to and from school.

To my confusion, I don't hear the others come in behind me. I wonder where they could have disappeared to. I know they're not in the house and they weren't _that_ far behind me, surely!

I go back outside and look up the street but there's no sign of them. Suddenly I hear clattering coming from the back of the house. I walk around and, as I get closer, I can tell that the noises are coming from inside the garage.

Wondering what's going on, I step towards the garage and open the door, exclaiming, " _There_ you are!" when I see the others. Nick is rifling through a box of stuff while Jessica helpfully shines a flashlight on the box so he can see and Lucas stands nearby, watching. "I've been looking _everywhere_ for you!" The next thing I know, Nick tosses a book over his shoulder and it hits me on the nose. "Uh, what are you doing?" I ask him while rubbing my now achy nose.

Nick stands up and proudly exclaims, " _This!"_ as he gestures to an old bike, Jessica shining the flashlight on it. The bike has wires and stuff attached to it. He walks toward it, saying, "I made it myself! It's a generator!"

I look at it thoughtfully, wondering how it works and also wondering how Nick made it. Nick blinks and adds sheepishly, "Well, sort of. I'm missing the most crucial part."

That's a relief! "So that means it's not working, right?" I point out eagerly as I walk over to him. "Phew!" Sensing that it might not have been the best thing to say, I backtrack and add, "I mean we gotta get going!" I start to walk out of the garage. "Orbs should be full and we've got some unfinished business with Orrore!"

The others follow me back into the house and we head straight to the Primal Pad. There's no sign of Razzle anywhere so Lucas runs over to the chair while Jessica, Nick and I jump into the Gorm Gate.

We land near the cavern and walk up to the entrance and peer inside. "It's right around those stalagmites!" Jessica reminds us. "Be careful!"

She leads the way into the cave and we head to the chamber where Orrore and his weapon had been but it's empty. "Where is everybody?" I ask. There's no sign that anyone had even been here! It's so weird!

 _"I was so hoping you'd..."_

Whatever Razzle was planning on saying is cut off by the three of us screaming in fright which causes him to do the same. There is a thud as all three of us fall over backwards.

I sit up and tell him, "You need to stop doing that!"

"Doing _what?"_ he questions.

"Razzle," Nick says as we stand up and brush ourselves off. "We need to know what happened to Orrore!"

Razzle looks rather huffy as he responds, "Well, maybe if you'd stop _startling_ me like that, I could tell you!" He then clears his throat and says rather quickly, "Orrore and his minions have taken the weapon to the Earth Nation capital. He's launching an assault right now!"

Okay, that's definitely bad! "We gotta stop that guy!" I say to the others.

"You'll get there much faster in Super Gormiti form!" Lucas points out.

"Lucas is right!" Jessica agrees.

"I've charged the orbs - you use the power!" Lucas tells us.

"Elemental powers flow," we chant together. "Gormiti - Lords of Nature, go!"

We finish transforming and run out of the cave. "We'd better hurry!" Nick says as we head to the Earth Nation. "I don't even want to think about the trouble Orrore and his weapon are causing!"

"Don't worry, bro!" I tell him. "We'll stop Orrore!"

"And how are we going to do that?" Jessica asks, flying alongside us. "If we get hit by those energy beams, we'll be incapacitated just like last time!"

Nick and I are silent for a moment before we shrug. "We've got nothing!" I say sheepishly.

We arrive at the Earth Nation and watch from a cliff as Orrore uses his weapon to create panic and destruction. The beams hit the Earth Gormiti as well as buildings which crumble apart. We watch as the Earth Gormiti start fleeing, only to be frozen in their tracks by the energy beams.

"Nothing can stop me!" Orrore boasts. "All will bow to the evil might of the evil Orrore!"

"That weapon is too powerful, even for us!" Nick says in despair as Orrore continues his attack on the Earth Gormiti.

"We can't just sit here and _watch!"_ I point out. "We've gotta do _something!"_ Innocent Gormiti are suffering here and we have to help them...somehow.

"Lucas, have you found anything to help us out?" Jessica asks.

Lucas projects his image in front of us and says, "Still looking!"

Just then, there is a familiar squeaking sound. We turn our heads and Nick exclaims happily, "Copper, you came back!"

Copper isn't the only one there, though. A familiar beast that resembles a rhino looms behind him. "Looks like he brought a friend - Roscalion!" Jessica says.

"Roscalion," Lucas says, still projecting his image, "one of the most powerful Ancient Guardians of Gorm!"

The ground shakes violently with each footstep as Roscalion slowly approaches us, growling. As he gets closer, I realize that he is going to jump over us and yell, "Duck!" to the others before lowering my head slightly as Roscalion leaps over us.

We stand up and watch Roscalion slide down the cliff towards the source of trouble. "Someone must have summoned him!" Lucas tells us.

"Wasn't us!" Jessica says as Copper leaps over the edge after Roscalion.

"You think he knows Copper?" Nick asks as Copper runs down the cliff, following Roscalion.

"From what I'm seeing here, that's a good guess!" Lucas replies as we turn our heads to look at him.

"Lucas, is Roscalion powerful enough to defeat Orrore's weapon?" Jessica questions.

Lucas is looking through a book as he answers, "I can't say for certain! It's too close!"

"Well, let's see if we can tip those odds in our favor, shall we?" I say to the others.

Copper is now running ahead of Roscalion who seems to have caught Orrore's attention as he yells, "Roscalion! Turn, turn quickly!" to the Lava Soldiers who rush to obey. "Come on, haven't you ever turned before? _Turn_ already!"

The Lava Soldiers start to rotate the weapon so that the crystals are pointing towards a still-charging Roscalion. As he runs, he shoots off his horns at Orrore who lets out a cry as he ducks to avoid being hit. "Hurry!" he shouts impatiently. "You push and you pull, creating a turning effect!"

The weapon continues to be rotated as Roscalion keeps charging. Copper runs forward and sinks its teeth into the leg of one of the Lava Soldiers who lets out a pained cry. "Hurry!" Orrore yells again as the crystals on the weapon start to light up with energy.

Orrore fires an energy beam directly at Roscalion which brings him to a stop almost immediately. As Roscalion puts his foot down, the blue glow fades away but crackles of blue electricity surround him.

A second energy beam causes the Ancient Guardian to let out a pained or angry roar. I can't actually tell. "A supercharge from my energy cannon will put a stop to the great Roscalion!" Orrore boasts. "Just watch and see!"

As the Lava Soldiers start charging towards Roscalion, I decide to take action and fire a water globe at Orrore. It hits him directly, causing him to yell. I fire a second one which hits the crystals, causing an energy beam to be fired haphazardly. Oops! Luckily it doesn't hit anyone.

Orrore recovers quickly and sends a lava blast in our direction but I retaliate by releasing another water globe. We repeat this once again and a cloud of steam forms. I let out a roar and attack once more, yelling "Aqua Blast!" Orrore, again, counters with a blast of fire and an even bigger cloud of steam forms, completely obscuring my vision.

I blindly step forward a few steps in the steam and ask Nick who is standing next to me, "Where'd he go?" We walk forward some more when suddenly I find myself letting out a yell as I fly backwards, having been hit by an energy beam.

"Don't waste your energy, _boy!"_ Orrore tells me. Man, does he really _not_ know our names by now? I'm guessing that he doesn't actually care, given that he is the bad guy and all. "You are no match for Orrore and his weapon! You know it's true!"

I manage to see Nick standing up and running up the large crystals towards Orrore and leaping towards him, tackling him to the ground. Nice one, bro!

"Let's see how tough you are at ground level!" Nick shouts angrily.

Orrore kicks Nick off of him, however, sending him flying and stands up before raising his right hand and sending blue lightning at Nick. This ends up knocking him to the ground again. "Obviously tougher than you anticipated!" he says.

Suddenly I hear an exclamation of "Now!" behind me. The blue glow seems to have worn off and I find myself able to move again. I run over to Nick who is slowly standing up and we turn to see the Lava Soldiers throw a net over Roscalion.

Luckily Jessica is on the situation right away. "Looks like you're in a bit of a tangle!" she says as she swoops down towards Roscalion. "Let me lend you a slice!" She tears the net apart easily, as though it was made of paper. Roscalion steps out of the torn net, his paralysis having finally worn off.

"Fashion tip number twelve: be prepared for stormy weather!" Jessica says as she releases a funnel of wind from her hands, crying out, "Wind Attack!"

Nick and I watch as Orrore climbs back onto his weapon and lets out a cry as the wind bombards him. Suddenly we find ourselves trapped by the Lava Soldiers who stand around us in a circle.

"I'll give you guys a hand just as soon as I get rid of this clown!" Jessica tells us as she releases another blast of wind and turning in mid-air to face Orrore.

However, Orrore does what he's been doing all day and fires yet another energy beam from the cannon. The beam actually travels up the wind and hits Jessica who lets out a cry as she plummets to the ground, much to our horror.

The blue glow wears off fairly quickly as she drops and Nick manages to catch her limp form.

"Turn!" Orrore tells the Lava Soldiers angrily as some of them run towards him. "Turn! Come on, show me how you get your turn on!" The Lava Soldiers start to rotate the weapon as he yells.

Just then, out of nowhere, Copper runs and leaps onto the large crystals, growling fiercely at Orrore. "Not _this_ time!" Orrore says as he raises his right hand and strikes Copper who lets out a squeal as he goes flying.

He lands hard on the ground in the path of Orrore's weapon and struggles to get to his feet. "Take _this_ , you little mongrel!" Orrore shouts angrily. Wait, he isn't going to - he is, isn't he?

"Copper, run!" Nick yells as Orrore fires an energy beam. Copper lets out a squeal and leaps away for a short time until he momentarily stops for a moment and gets hit by the beam. For some reason, the two Lava Soldiers behind him start to glow blue which doesn't make much sense to me.

Orrore growls and shakes his fist in an _I am close to snapping_ way as Lucas projects his image between Nick and I. "Did you see that?" he asks us. "The energy bolt went right through him!"

"He's a conductor... like electrical wire!" Nick says slowly before exclaiming, "Of course! He's made out of _copper!"_ as Copper continues to run around, avoiding the beams of energy.

"Take that!" Orrore says as he repeatedly fires the weapon. "And that! And _that!_ "

"Copper!" Nick calls as he runs over to him. "Point your tail at Orrore!"

Copper obeys, standing still and curving its tail so that the tip is facing Orrore.

"Yes," Orrore says as the Lava Soldiers turn the weapon so that the crystals are pointing towards Copper. "Stand still and make things all the easier for me!"

He fires a beam at Copper who glows blue before a beam shoots out of his tail and hits the two Lava Soldiers by Orrore. Okay, now that was pretty cool!

Nick runs back over to us as Orrore decides to focus his attention on us, directing the crystals at us. "In the end, you prove to be _no_ match for Orrore and his superior skills of evil!" he boasts before laughing evilly. "Uh, but anyway, enough about me," he says, narrowing his eyes at us. "Do you have any last words?"

Well, I can probably think of some but nothing seems to spring to mind right now.

Nick suddenly taps me on the shoulder and whispers, "Look!" I follow his gaze and smirk. Oh, this is going to be good! "As a matter of fact, yes, I do," he tells Orrore as Copper jumps up into his arms. " _Look behind you."_ Orrore looks confused as he says, "What? What did you say?"

The three of us smirk as Nick says, "I _said_ ' _Look behind you!'_ "

We watch as Roscalion steps up behind Orrore, growling angrily. Orrore turns his head and nervously says, "Perhaps...we can negotiate!"

Roscalion takes a couple of steps forward before letting out a fierce roar and slamming his front legs down onto the weapon, completely destroying it and sending Orrore flying. A few Lava Soldiers walk over to him and help him up while we run over to stand near Roscalion and the remains of Orrore's weapon.

"My weapon!" he yells as he sees what is left of it. Roscalion roars angrily and Orrore turns on his heel and starts running away with the Lava Soldiers. We watch Roscalion's club-like tail swinging as he thunders after them.

I start laughing and the others join in. "Look at him go!" I exclaim. "Now that he doesn't have a big weapon to hide behind!"

"Hey, enough!" Nick says, laughing, as Copper licks his face. "Down, Copper - cut it out!"

"He's an affectionate little guy!" Jessica says as she pets him. "You know he really would make a good mascot!"

"Cut-rate amateur, if you ask me!" Razzle says. Well, _somebody's_ still jealous!

Copper jumps onto the ground and we watch as he runs off, making that funny squeaky noise. We find ourselves laughing again as he zig-zags away before finally heading in one direction.

Lucas projects his image near us. "You guys ready to come home?" he asks.

"Just a second," Nick says, looking at something he has in his hand. "Copper!"

Okay, I'm confused.

Lucas gates us back to the Primal Pad and, almost immediately, Nick runs towards the stairs. "Come on, guys!" he says excitedly. "I want to test this out!"

I follow the others, wondering what Nick is planning on doing. He leads us to the garage - oh no - and walks over to his self-made generator. "Hope this works..." he mutters as he attaches the thing he'd picked up in Gorm to it.

"So, anything?" Lucas asks Nick as I look down at my feet.

"Only one way to find out!" Nick replies.

I can feel everyone's gaze on me and I look up. "What?" I say.

Nick gestures to the bike and says, "Somebody needs to pedal to generate power!"

I gasp. "But why _me?"_ I protest indignantly.

"To be fair, you _did_ say you didn't want to work on the project!" Jessica points out. "So, at least, this way you'll actually be _doing_ something!"

Realizing that the odds are against me, I sigh. "Fine!" I say as I walk over to the bike. "But we take turns pedaling - there's no way I'm spending hours on this thing!"

I climb onto the bike and start to pedal while the others wander over to the computer. "Hey, it's working!" Lucas exclaims. "Let's get this homework started!"

About an hour later, I'm getting pretty tired. And when I say 'pretty tired', I mean _exhausted._ Put it this way, I'm _really_ beginning to regret saying that I didn't want to work on the project.

"So I managed to use Copper's scale for the armature which enables it to generate the electric currents as it spins between the magnets!" Nick explains to Jessica.

Oh, so _that's_ what that thing was!

By now, my legs feel like lead and all I want to do is take a break. "Hey, Lucas!" I pant as sweat pours down my face. "I think - I wanna - work on the project now!"

"Courage, Toby, courage!" he calls as he continues to type. "I'm almost halfway done!"

I begrudgingly continue to pedal, though I'm pretty close to actually falling asleep. Hey, I wonder if I'd end up _sleep_ -pedaling? I mean if you can sleepwalk, why can't you sleep-pedal, right?

"Awesome!" I hear Nick exclaim, "Now everyone can get their projects finished in time, right, Toby?"

"Yeah..." I sleepily mumble as they all start laughing. Suddenly I feel someone tapping my shoulder. "What's going on?" I ask as I open my eyes to see the others. I find myself blinking furiously as I add, "Whoa, why is it so bright in here?"

"The power came back on!" Nick informs me. "And the project is done!"

"Really?" I ask eagerly, leaping off the bike which turns out to be a big mistake. My legs are so stiff that I wobble around and have to be grabbed by Nick before I fall over. "Nice one!"

Lucas folds his arms and says, "We just thought we'd better wake you up before you went totally stiff!"

"Yeah," Jessica agrees. "Sleeping on a bike? _So_ not a good idea!"

"I didn't exactly do it on purpose, you know!" I point out. "So, anyway, we never have to see this project again. It's done and dusted now, right?" I ask as we make our way out of the garage and back to the house.

"Well, unless we fail!" Nick points out pessimistically. "Which is a given considering it's for Miss McGurk!"

"Oh, and don't worry, I remembered to save the file this time!" Lucas says.

"Good thing you did," Jessica tells him. "There's only _one_ thing worse than failing a project and that's not handing it in!"

We walk into the living room to see Mom and Dad. "You kids must be hungry after all that work!" Mom says. "How about we whip you up something to eat?"

"Sounds good, Mom!" Nick says gratefully.

"Yeah!" I agree as we sit down. "I'm _starving!"_

"You two are welcome to stay over the night if you want!" Mom says to Lucas and Jessica.

"Can I?" Jessica says a little _too_ quickly. "I'll just check it's okay with my parents. Do you mind if I call them?"

Mom shakes her head and Jessica walks out into the hall. I watch her go, suspicion rising. She's acting weird but once again, I seem to be the only one who notices.

"What about you, Lucas?" Nick asks curiously.

Lucas looks apologetic as he says, "I'm gonna have to sit this one out! Dad just texted - apparently he thinks there's a really rare bird in our garden! Imagine what I'll be able to tell the Nature Watch group tomorrow! He gets more and more enthusiastic as he speaks, as though his birthday has come early.

"I'll drop you off at your house then!" Dad says as he grabs his coat from the back of a chair.

"Thanks, Mr. Tripp!" Lucas says gratefully. "Well, I'll see you guys tomorrow!"

"Yeah, see you!" Nick and I say together.

"I'll be back in a bit," I say suddenly. "I, uh, need to...use the bathroom." I leave the room and look around the hall. I didn't actually need the bathroom at all. Right now my priority is trying to discover why Jessica is acting so weird. Although it would help if I knew where she _was!_ I head upstairs and notice that the door to the spare bedroom is ajar. "Found you!" I whisper to myself as I manage to get right outside the door, expertly avoiding making any of the floorboards creak.

I press my ear against the door. I know listening in on other people's conversations is rude but I'm hoping I'll get a clue as to what's going on.

"Thanks," I hear Jessica say. "Bye." There is a beep as she presumably ends the call. What she says next fills me with an emotion I cannot describe - it's either terrible sadness or undeniable fury or perhaps a combination of the two. "I know I'm just a worthless nobody..."

I'm not sure what makes me angrier - that somebody has actually told her that or that she says it like she absolutely believes it's the truth. I find myself walking into the room.

"Toby, you scared me!" she exclaims as she smiles. "Good news, though, I can stay over!"

Normally I don't like to confront her about things I've heard her say that she doesn't want anyone to hear. But this is different. There's no way I can stay silent, not after what I heard her say.

"What did you say?" I ask her.

She looks confused as she says, "Well, I _said-"_

I hold my hand up to stop her. "I know what you said right now! I meant before that!"

Something - fear, I think - flashes across her face momentarily. "I-I don't know w-what you mean!" she stutters.

I frown at her. "I think you know _exactly_ what I mean!" I tell her. She's clamming up, just as I'd suspected she would.

She puts on an obviously fake smile as she says, "Listen, I don't know what you think you heard but it was probably nothing! Just idle chitchat!"

Her eyes go wide as I approach her slowly. "Oh, sure," I say. "I'm sure I'd call referring to yourself as a _worthless nobody_ just idle chitchat!"

"Why are you so angry?" Jessica questions, looking up at me. Does she even have to ask that? What's more, should I really have to answer? It should be obvious already.

"Angry?" I reply calmly, despite the rushing turmoil within. "Oh, I'm not angry. I'm fuming, raging and furious."

"But why?" she asks again. "It's the truth."

Something in me snaps. "It is _not_ the truth!" I say, my voice coming out louder and angrier than I had intended as I see her flinch slightly. "You are _not_ a worthless nobody!"

"I-" she starts to protest but I'm not finished yet. I can't believe she actually thinks it's an undeniable fact that she's a worthless nobody. Thinking about how somebody must have told her that a lot makes me so mad!

"No, Jess," I say as I grab her arm. Once more I feel tingles running through my fingers. They feel stronger than usual but I do my best to ignore them. "Just listen to me, okay? You are an amazing person who could never be described as either worthless or a nobody! I don't know who's been telling you that but you mustn't believe them."

"Y-You really think I-I'm...amazing?" she squeaks and I see a momentary blush on her face for some reason.

"Of course I do," I tell her. "You're smart, funny, talented and you don't let anybody push you around. Why _wouldn't_ I think you're amazing? I mean I could list all the good things about you but we might be here a while!"

Wow, saying things like _that_ makes it sound like I must really _like_ her or something. Wait, no, that didn't come out right! What I mean is there are a lot of qualities she has that people admire about her, qualities that _I_ admire...no, not again! I'm supposed to be helping her out, not mentally debating with myself about whether I fancy her or not - which I _don't_ , by the way! I don't and even if I did, it wouldn't matter because she's my best friend. It would never work out. N-not that I _want_ it to, of course!

She looks downcast all of a sudden as she mutters, "There's nothing good about me..."

"Do you really not see anything good about yourself at all?" I ask her incredulously. Upon seeing her give a small sad shake of her head in response, I move forward and wrap my arms around her in a hug. To my delight - no, that doesn't mean anything! -, I feel her rest her head against me as she hugs me back hesitantly. I hope against all hope that she cannot feel just how fast my heart is pounding right now. I mean it's not because of _her_. It's from all the pedaling I did earlier. Absolutely _nothing_ to do with her and the weird thoughts I have around her. "I hope I'll be able to help change your answer someday," I tell her as I pull her even closer to me, the tingling so strong that it's becoming near-impossible to ignore it.

Hugging her like this reminds me of when we were kids. Back then, she used to hug me a _lot!_ Yet for some reason, I was the _only_ one she hugged voluntarily. If somebody else hugged her, I recall her letting go extremely quickly in comparison to whenever she hugged me. After all these years, I still don't understand why...

"Will you promise me one thing?" she asks and I look at her curiously. "Promise me you won't try to delve any deeper into this. I'm not hiding anything, I swear. I just want you to forget about this, okay? It's honestly not that important."

I want to protest that it _is_ important because she's my best friend and I don't want her to ever think that she is useless and unworthy. Then I look at her face, my eyes meeting hers as she silently pleads with me. "Okay, I promise," I say as I sigh. "I'll forget about it. If you're sure that's what you want."

She nods and smiles at me so brightly it scares me. How can she go from being distressed to being so overwhelmingly positive just like that? "Thank you," she whispers before raising her voice to a normal volume. "I almost forgot that I still have to tell your parents I'm staying over!" she exclaims as she leaps out of my arms, much to my disa- no, _no,_ we are _not_ going there again! "I hope they won't be mad!" she worries as she heads to the door.

"They won't be," I assure her as I follow her out of the room, closing the door behind me. As I watch her walk down the stairs, I allow the guilt of having lied to her wash over me. And, no, I'm not talking about my parents.

I have absolutely _no_ intention of forgetting this. I couldn't forget about what I've learned about her problem so far even if I tried! So I am going to break this promise, even if it means I have to risk losing a good friend. I feel guilty about lying to her but I'm not stopping until I find out the truth.

 _Nobody_ hurts my best friend in any way and gets away with it!

* * *

 _AN: And we're done with this chapter at last! I'll be focusing on the Gormiti Love oneshot now so look out for that!_ _Don't forget to send in requests through the reviews for either this story or GL v.2 (since they're the ones I will be working on). I will post the template for requests I provided in the first oneshot in my profile asap so check it out!_

 _Also, I'd just like to give a big thank you to_ ** _Ishouldbesleepin_** _for their lovely review as well as the rest of you guys for your continued support. It makes me so happy to know that people enjoy reading my fanfics and I hope you'll continue to do so._

 _See you next time!_


	15. Chapter 14 - Sick Day

_AN: Hello and welcome back to ROTLON! I sincerely hope you've been enjoying it - I know I enjoy writing it!_

 _But enough of my blathering and let's get on with the fic!_

* * *

I walk into the kitchen and see that Dad is watching a re-run of one of my all-time favorite TV shows, _Monkey Costume Parade._

"This has got to be the most awesome show _ever!"_ I exclaim as I sit down and we watch the costumed monkeys juggle with colored balls and bowling pins. On a rainy day like this, what could be better?

Suddenly the monkeys disappear to be replaced by a male newsreader as the breaking news jingle starts to play. "We interrupt _Monkey Costume Parade_ for a late-breaking news..." he announces.

This _can't_ be happening! "No!" I yell in despair, prompting Dad to look at me. "Not _Monkey Costume Parade_ \- they _can't!"_ I shake my fist and add, "It's the... _monkeys!"_

Aw," Dad says disappointedly. "They cut away before the astronaut monkey! He always looks so authentic in his little space helmet!"

"What's going on?" Nick, who I hadn't even known was there, asks right before he sneezes loudly.

I turn around to look at him and see that his face is flushed and he is holding what appears to be an ice bag to his head before we both focus our attention on what the female reporter on the TV is saying.

"City engineers blame the collapse on poor soil testing but the question remains...how does a solid cement foundation suddenly go soft?" The image shows a multi-story building that seems to be in the process of being built before cutting back to the female reporter at the news studio.

"There's also the medieval knight monkey," Dad laments. "That little suit of armor is _very_ convincing!"

Nick leans in close to me and asks, "You think something's up in Gorm?" Dad looks at us and we both get nervous, hoping he didn't hear what Nick just said. To my surprise, Nick straightens up and says firmly, "No! Can't focus on anything else! Must conserve every spare brain cell for _testing!"_

Testing? What testing?

"You're still taking that national achievement test?" Dad asks incredulously. "Sometimes you gotta take a sick day, buddy!"

Oh, yeah, the NAT. I forgot about that. Something tells me that Nick will _not_ want to take a sick day. The apocalypse could happen and he'd _still_ be more worried about the test!

"Can't you just take the make-up test on Saturday?" Mom suggests.

Nick frowns and responds, "Saturday, we're going to the movies for the premiere of _Return of the Sequel: Part II_!" before holding the ice bag to his head and groaning.

I stand up from the table. "Well, we better get going, hadn't we?" I say to him. Personally, I don't particularly care for the NAT but I know Nick will freak if he misses it or if he's late for it by a single second. Sometimes I think he stresses _way_ too much!

We walk out into the hall and grab our backpacks before saying goodbye to Mom and Dad as we leave.

For the entire journey, Nick sneezes and sniffles. By the time we arrive at school, I have lost count of the number of times I have said: "Bless you!"

"Seriously, bro," I tell him as we head to our lockers, "the world won't end if you miss _one_ NAT, you know!"

"I'm fine," he says distractedly as he tries and fails to open a locker. Upon further inspection, I realize that it's because he's trying to open the wrong locker.

"Uh, Nick, you know that's _my_ locker you're trying to open there, right?"

I look up to see Lucas and Jessica who are both staring curiously at Nick. Jessica lets out an exclamation as he turns around. "Nick, you look terrible!"

"Gee, thanks!" he mumbles as he turns and tries to open the locker again, though this time he actually goes for his own and is finally successful in getting it to open.

"You should be resting!" Lucas points out, frowning as he folds his arms.

"That's what _I've_ been trying to tell him..." I mutter as Nick grabs a few books from his locker and stuffs them into his backpack before closing his locker and turning to face us.

"Look, guys, I appreciate your concern and everything but I'm f-fi..." The end of his sentence is cut off as he sneezes loudly.

"Bless you!" Lucas, Jessica and I say in unison and Nick quietly thanks us as he blows his nose on a tissue.

We head to our classroom and when we are called in, silently file into the room and take our seats. There are paper booklets and a pen sitting on each desk.

As Miss McGurk goes over explaining the conditions for the test - complete and utter silence, _obviously_ -, I cannot help hearing Nick's constant sniffs. If he sneezed like he had this morning, this exam would be anything _but_ silent!

"You may begin, y'all," she finishes speaking before adding, "you have an hour and forty-five minutes. Nothing more and nothing less!"

I turn over the booklet and fill in the front page with my name and today's date. This is going to be a _long_ day!

However, barely fifteen minutes into the test, Nick lets rip with a massive - and I seriously mean _massive_ \- sneeze that sends the rest of us flying.

I find myself lying between three desks. People and papers are scattered across the floor. Glancing at Nick who is staring rather sheepishly at us all as he sniffs slightly, I wonder how he can still want to take the test when he's so sick. I mean that sneeze almost wiped the rest of us out of existence!

It takes about five minutes or so to get the desks and everything to normal and the test gets back underway. Like I said, it's gonna be a _very long_ day!

Once the hour and forty-five minutes have passed, in what unsurprisingly feels like forever, we are dismissed and we leave the classroom. The four of us head out onto the campus and sit down on a grassy hill.

"Come on, Nick!" I say to him. "Go home and get some rest!"

"No, I'm good!" he says before biting into a biscuit. "I just need some power food - rebuild the brain!" Wow, he is being seriously stubborn about this. If it were me, I'd jump at the chance to have a day off, _especially_ if it meant missing the NAT.

"Why?" Jessica asks, frowning. "Because you sneezed half of it out of your head? What you _need_ is a sick day!"

Instead of turning to reply to her, Nick instead exasperatedly addresses a nearby tree with, "Why does everybody keep telling me that?"

I look at Lucas who looks back at me, just as confused. I'm no doctor or anything but mistaking a tree for a person is definitely not a good sign. "Um, Nick," Jessica says, concerned. "You're arguing with a tree!"

He looks at us, his cheeks even more flushed than ever, before begrudgingly admitting, "Okay, maybe I _could_ use a power nap!"

 _"You're telling me!"_ A familiar voice rings out and we gasp, looking around for the source. _"You look like you fell out of the sick tree and hit every branch on the way down!"_

Nick lets out a scream as Razzle - who else? - pokes his head out of a hole in a nearby tree. Of course, this makes Razzle scream as well.

Without warning, Nick sneezes, the force of it sending Razzle flying backward through the hole. "Razzle!" Lucas, Jessica and I exclaim as we peer through said hole.

Clearly winded, Razzle lies on the ground and gasps, "Your dimension has the weirdest greeting customs!"

"Something's up in Gorm? What's going on?" Lucas asks Razzle as I step up beside him.

"Surprise! Bad news!" Razzle says as he sits up. He springs to his feet and adds, "The Earth Gormiti are going _wacky_ \- ripping up the landscape to create new defenses around their capital!"

The three of us gasp and look around as Nick suddenly exclaims, "I _knew_ that construction accident had to be Gorm-related!" It seems that once again, he is mistaking the tree for one of us as he continues. "We gotta get in there and find out what's wrong! Come on, let's go!" He raises his fist in the air enthusiastically.

I stare at him, words failing me, as Lucas says dryly, "Dude, talking to the tree again!"

Nick looks at us and sheepishly laughs as he rubs his head. "Oh, you guys...are over there..."

"We better head to the Primal Pad," I say before looking at Nick. "You sure you don't need us to carry you, little bro? You know - in case you get all _woozy_ on us!"

"I'm fine," he replies as Razzle jumps up onto my shoulder. "I can manage."

We start walking home and I keep a close eye on Nick for the entire journey. The last thing we need is him passing out on us because he's been working himself too hard.

As soon as we get inside the house, we go straight into the kitchen and shut ourselves inside the pantry before sliding our hands across the panel to gain entry to the Primal Pad.

We gather in front of the control panel as Razzle begins to explain the situation to us. "It's not like the Earth Gormiti to be so _paranoid_ ," he says, "but they are going all-out on the defenses!" The image on the screen shows the Earth Fortress as he continues. "They're attacking anybody who even comes _close_ to it which makes it really hard to ask them what the problem is!"

"Maybe we could find somebody to talk to if we snuck inside..." Lucas starts to suggest before Nick cuts off the rest of his sentence with a sneeze.

Jessica folds her arms and says, "I'm gonna say either sneaking is out or _sick boy_ is!"

Judging from Nick's indignant cry of "What, no!" I can tell the idea of staying behind doesn't impress him that much. "Earth is my element!" he continues. "You need me on this mission!"

Razzles scratches his head thoughtfully. "Let's see if we can at least get you a cushy Keeper job!" he says optimistically.

The four of us go to stand around the Gorm Gate and cry out, "Elementals!"

"Air!" Jessica begins.

"Water!" I yell.

"Earth!" Nick calls.

"Forest!" Lucas finishes.

"Reveal to us the Keeper and give to them your chair!" we say together.

"And the Keeper is..." Razzle announces as the chair slowly stops spinning and displays a blue icon with the Water symbol on it, "...Water!"

Well, I guess it has been a while since I was the Keeper. And I promised myself I wouldn't complain - I'm just gonna get on with it.

To my surprise, however, Nick starts walking forward. I think he's a little... _confused!_ I definitely heard Razzle say that _I_ was the Keeper so he's probably just getting a little mixed up right now. I guess it's an easy mistake to make...

Razzle walks up to him and grabs his leg, looking sympathetic. "Aww, sorry, Nick, looks like your bro gets the chair!" he says.

As I walk to the chair, I decide to try and make Nick feel better the only way I know how. "Guess it's _snot_ your day, huh? Get it?" I say, amused, and he lets out a groan as I jump into the chair. "Dude, _laughter!"_ I exclaim as the chair rises and rotates, bringing me level with the control panel. " _Best_ medicine!"

I start to manipulate the crystals to open the Gorm Gate. "Please keep your arms, legs and all body fluids inside at all times! Buh-bye!"

One by one, the others jump into the Gorm Gate until I am left alone in the Primal Pad.

"And...touchdown!" I say as I slide two of the crystals down into their slots. I look up at the screen and watch them land. Lucas and Jessica land okay. Nick, on the other hand, lands rather painfully on his head. _Ouch!_ I open the Travel Tome and announce, "Okay, guys, Travel Tome has you just outside the Earth Nation capital!" As an afterthought, I ask, "How's the welcome party?"

"Big on spooky, not so much on the party!" Jessica replies.

Meanwhile, Lucas seems confused. "I thought the Earth Gormiti were attacking anybody who gets close!" he says to the others, frowning. "Are we not close enough?"

Just then, what appear to be balls of lightning fly at them from the opposite rock wall, causing them to cry out as they run to avoid being hit. "Too close, too close!" Razzle whimpers as he darts behind a rock.

Whoever or whatever is doing this continues to fire these lightning balls, forcing Lucas to dive for cover once again.

Another lightning ball gets aimed at Jessica who seems to be puzzled by something. "Hey," she says as she jumps over the attack and lands in a crouch, "these are Earth Gormiti! Shouldn't they be attacking with rocks and boulders and stuff?"

Lucas looks at her with an _are you kidding me right now?_ look as he snarks, "Seriously? We're about to get crispy fried and you're ragging on their _style?"_ Well, he has got a point. Though, from what I know about Earth Gormiti, I wouldn't expect any of them to be able to throw balls of _lightning!_ But, hey, what do I know? And, while we're speaking of Earth Gormiti...

"Just hang on, guys!" I tell them as I watch Nick barely avoid being hit. "Orbs are charging! And somebody check on my sick kid brother, huh?" I ask as I glance back at the orbs - they're not quite at full power yet.

"Oh, I'm sure he's doing just-" Razzle starts to say before he is cut off by Nick.

"Hey!" he yells, waving his arms. What is he _doing?_

"Are you insane, kid?" Razzle exclaims. Believe me, I'm beginning to wonder the same thing!

"Please!" Nick says as lightning balls are fired around him and the others. "We're here to help! We're _friends_ of the Earth Gormiti!"

 _"You cannot help! You cannot protect the Earth champion!"_

The Earth champion? Who's the Earth champion? Obviously, it must be somebody pretty important but I still don't get what's going on.

The speaker fires a massive lightning ball at Nick who lets out a scream as he runs away, the attack leaving a crack in the spot where he had been standing previously.

"I guess this _ends_ negotiations!" Razzle says nervously.

"Toby!" Jessica yells suddenly.

I glance back at the orbs. Finally, they're all at full power! "We are go on the glow!" I announce. Now it's time for us to fight back! And when I say _us_ , I mean the others, of course.

"Elemental powers flow, Gormiti - Lords of Nature, go!" they cry out together before transforming one by one.

Another lightning ball is fired. "All together, right in the middle!" Lucas tells the others before firing off his bark-like fist. At the same time, Jessica fires several sharp feathers out of her hand and Nick does the same, except with rocks.

"Blast of Bark!" Lucas yells.

"Fighting Feathers launch!" Jessica cries.

"Rock Storm!" Nick shouts!"

The attacks split the lightning ball into three smaller balls which hit the wall behind them, causing small chunks of rock to fall down on them. Jessica shields herself with her wings, Nick simply lets them hit him - though I guess it wouldn't hurt much since he is made out of rock - while Lucas transforms his right hand into a shield made of brown vines and holds it over his head.

The attacker tries again, firing another lightning ball at Jessica who flies up to avoid it. "Our turn!" she exclaims, before creating a funnel of wind and sending it in the direction that the attacks are being fired from. It hits the wall with a boom but it doesn't seem to have hit anybody.

"Playing hide and seek, huh?" Lucas says, apparently deciding to attempt getting their assailant out in the open. "I think it's time to _root_ you out!" He stamps his foot onto the ground and thick, brown vines snake up from the ground and climb up the wall.

However, before they can grab - at least I think that's what he was planning - the mystery attacker, a lightning ball hits the ground in front of Lucas, sending him flying.

I notice that Nick doesn't seem to be doing much fighting. Projecting my image beside him, I say, "You know there's a fight going on!

"Yeah," he groans in reply, his eyes closed and his head lowered. "Just a little light-headed!" Another lightning ball is fired at us and I quickly make my image disappear as Nick cries out and ducks. Well, he should be a little more alert _now!_

"Well, you're going to be _no_ -headed if you don't snap out of it!" Razzle exclaims frantically.

Nick slowly stands up and transforms his right hand into a hammer, yelling, "Stone Hammer!" Letting out a fierce roar, he slams it into the ground, sending cracks across the ground and up the wall. There is a brief flash as whoever is attacking them disappears.

"Did we get him?" Nick asks as they regroup.

"Maybe we just scared him away," Lucas responds.

"Either way," Jessica adds as she lands near them, "it looks like we're safe for now!"

Um, yeah, I wouldn't count on that!

"Do _not_ move!"

Two Earth Gormiti jump down in front of the others. One of them raises his hand and creates a boulder using a pile of rocks. "Who dares cross the boundary of Earth Nation capital?" he asks, raising the boulder over his head.

"See!" Jessica says to Nick. " _They_ use rocks and boulders!"

Okay, so if the Earth Gormiti weren't the ones attacking before, the question is:

Who was?

Nick walks forward and sinks down onto one knee - the Earth Gormiti honor bow. "We're here to help the Earth Gormiti!" he says. "Someone just attacked us and he said he was after your champion!"

The Earth Gormiti exchange glances before the second one exclaims, "Great Bullrock!" After a moment, he adds, "Come with us!"

They lead the others inside the Earth Nation fortress, a tall and imposing structure. "You said your mysterious attacker was after our champion?" the first Earth Gormiti asks as they come to a stop. He turns to the others while gesturing to a Gormiti sitting on a throne. " _This_ is our champion - Bullrock!"

Hey, I remember that guy! He was at that battle tournament! And I'm pretty sure the others recognize him too.

Bullrock apparently remembers too as he stands up and says, "Ah, the Lords of Nature, we meet again!"

"Hey, good for you!" Razzle responds. I'm not sure if he means it's good that Bullrock gets to meet us again or if it's good that he remembers us.

"Thank you," Bullrock says.

One of the Earth Gormiti then begins to speak. "The great Bullrock recently led our Earth Gormiti to a great victory over Lavion's forces!" he explains.

"Unfortunately," his companion adds gravely, "Lavion does not take defeat very well! Our spies have learned that he has hired an unknown mercenary to settle his grudge with Bullrock!"

Why does that sound _exactly_ like something Lavion would do? He seems like the type to overreact to a defeat, with his _I'm so handsome and the absolute best!_ gimmick and all.

"Well, whoever this _unknown mercenary_ is, we already beat him back once!" Lucas says. "If you let us help you-"

"The Earth Gormiti need no help!" Bullrock interrupts.

As Nick steps forward, I project my image beside the others. "These are Earth Gormiti," I remind them. "If you're gonna make an offer like that, you have to give the honor bow first!"

"I knew that!" Nick says exasperatedly. "Allow me." He lowers himself down onto one knee. The Earth Gormiti look at him. I'm not sure what they're thinking.

Just then, Nick starts to make a noise that is the build-up to something _very_ familiar. "Oh, boy!" Razzle mutters, his eyes going wide. Jessica and Lucas gasp, knowing what's coming next.

The Earth Gormiti narrow their eyes as seconds later, Nick lets out a massive sneeze and sends a shower of rocks shooting out of his mouth right towards Bullrock who has to dive for cover.

"Assassin!" One of the Earth Gormiti shouts angrily.

" _Again?"_ Lucas complains. "Doesn't anybody just trust us when we say we're the _good_ guys?"

As the other Earth Gormiti starts charging forward, Nick holds his hands up. "Hey, stop!" he says, attempting to calm the situation. "This is all just a big misundersta-" He cuts himself off with yet another _rock_ sneeze, the rocks hitting the Earth Gormiti who crashes into Bullrock behind him, making them both cry out. "Whoops!" Nick says sheepishly.

"Monster!" Bullrock shouts angrily, getting to his feet. "You will _pay_ for this!"

The other Earth Gormiti fires a stream of rocks out of his hand aiming at Jessica who cries out as she jumps about and covers herself with her wings to avoid being hit.

"Can't cut loose!" Lucas exclaims as the Earth Gormiti turns his attention to him. "I don't wanna _hurt_ them!" He dodges the Earth Gormiti's blows, causing him to crash to the ground.

"Not really your biggest problem right now!" Razzle yells nervously as Bullrock starts running towards them. They gasp fearfully and Razzle cries out, "Run!"

The others don't need telling twice as they start to flee the fortress, Bullrock and the two Earth Gormiti in hot pursuit.

Once they reach the edge, Jessica flies down while Lucas wraps brown vines around a rocky ledge and lowers himself to the ground outside the fortress. Meanwhile Nick, whose left hand is in the form of a drill, simply runs and jumps, using the drill to slide down the rock until he reaches the bottom.

He pants breathlessly when he reaches the others. "Just...need a...sec... winded..." he gasps.

The three Earth Gormiti jump down behind them. Apparently, they're not in the mood for letting Nick take a breather.

"Nick, come on!" Jessica yells as she creates a funnel of wind. Nick obediently starts running, following Lucas. Jessica fires the wind at the Earth Gormiti before flying after the others.

Eventually, they come to a stop at a massive rock pile. Standing on top of it are four Earth Gormiti soldiers who immediately begin to throw rocks - I mean, what else? They cry out as they each do their own thing to avoid being hit.

"Glow is dropping, guys!" I inform them, glancing at the orbs. They seem a lot duller than before, indicating that they don't have a lot of power left. I project my image beside them, noticing that Jessica is using her wings to shield the three of them. "You gotta get somewhere safe and get back here!"

"And how do we get somewhere safe?" Lucas asks me sarcastically. "Nick's about to pass out and he's too heavy for us to carry!"

Before I can suggest anything - not that I have any ideas - Nick says, "Hey, maybe you don't have to!" He looks at Jessica and adds, "Jessica, grab Lucas and Razzle and take to the sky!"

Jessica gives him a _you're crazy!_ look as she exclaims, "What? And leave you here?"

"Just trust me!" he says. "I'm sick but I'm not stupid, okay!" I honestly hope he knows what he's doing!

As the Earth Gormiti start to charge forward, Jessica obediently grabs hold of Lucas - with Razzle clinging to his shoulder - and flies up into the air.

"So you think you can fly your mercenary friends to safety?" One of the Earth Gormiti asks Nick, forming a rock ball in his hands. "All you've done is give me _one_ target instead of _three!"_

To my surprise, as the Earth Gormiti throws the ball of rock, Nick runs towards it, like he _wants_ it to hit him. It takes me a couple of seconds to realize it's _exactly_ what he wants!

The rock propels him to the top of the cliff where Lucas, Jessica, and Razzle are waiting. He lays still for a few moments, blinking as though in disbelief that his plan _actually_ worked. Then he stands up and waves to the Earth Gormiti on the ground below. "Thanks for the lift!" he calls to them cheekily. Bullrock lets out an angry cry in response as the others walk away.

I wave my hands over the crystals and a portal begins to form. As the others rise up into it, they say, "By the orbs of Gorm!"

I turn the chair around and watch them rise out of the Gorm Gate, now back in human form. I lower the chair to the ground. "Ah, Nicholas!" I say as I walk over to Nick who stares at me blankly. I sink down onto one knee as though doing an honor bow. "I am _greatly_ honored to meet-" I cut myself off by faking a sneeze. The others frown and I grin as I ask, "Did I do that right?"

"On the bright side," Nick says as I stand up, "they're only gonna be _more_ paranoid now! The Earth Nation capital should be the safest place in Gorm for a while!"

I wander over to the shelves and start looking at the books, Razzle perching on the nearby ladder. "I guess the first thing is to figure out who our real mystery mercenary is!" I tell the others.

Lucas frowns. "Not much to go on!" he points out. "It'll take some time to study it out!"

Nick's head suddenly snaps up. "Time...study... _test!"_ he cries out the last word. "We have to go!" he says frantically before running towards the stairs. "They're gonna start the Math and Science NAT without us!"

"That boy _really_ likes his standardized tests!" Lucas says, amused, as we watch Nick leave.

I shrug and say, "You guys should go back too! Make sure he doesn't pass out and get a pencil stuck up his nose!" Hey, it could happen!

"What about _you?"_ Jessica asks, surprised. "You're just gonna miss the rest of the NAT?"

"I'm on Keeper duty!" I remind her. Wow, I never thought being the Keeper would _actually_ come in handy! "Maybe me and Razzle can find something about Lavion's mercenary!" As an afterthought, I add, "Besides I already finished _my_ NAT! Prefilled out all my bubble sheets to make a picture of a monkey - awesome!" I hold it up so they can see it.

Their eyes go wide as Jessica says, "You don't really take this test very seriously, do you?"

"Not so much!" I say cheerfully.

"Well, we'll see you later!" Lucas says as he and Jessica start walking towards the stairs.

After they've gone, I turn to Razzle. "So where should we start?" Lucas did have a point - we didn't have a lot to go on.

Razzle looks thoughtful as he replies, "Well, we know this guy has to be a Lava Gormiti! That goes without saying but we need to find a way to narrow down our search!"

I drum my fingers against the shelf before exclaiming, "Hey, that guy could fire off lightning balls! What if we look up all the Lava Gormiti who can do that? At least then we'll be getting somewhere!"

"Good idea, kid!" Razzle praises me, nodding his head approvingly. We both get to work looking through books for information on Lava Gormiti.

Unfortunately, after a while, it doesn't seem like any Lava Gormiti has the ability to fire balls of lightning. I sigh as I flick through the pages of a book before gasping. "Hey, Razzle!" I call out. "Come here a second!"

Razzle scampers over to me, climbing up onto my shoulder. "What is it?" he asks frantically.

I show him the page I had been looking at. "I think I found our mystery guy!" I tell him. He reads the page and nods his head.

"It certainly seems that this guy is the one we are looking for!" he says.

I pull my phone out of my pocket. "Better let the others know!" I say, about to hit my contacts list. However, I stop suddenly when I remember that their phones are more than likely switched off because of the NAT.

I start to run towards the stairs. "I'll go get the others while you see if you can find any more info on this guy!" He nods and I leave the Primal Pad.

Once I leave the house, I start to jog towards the school, hoping that the tests will at least be over by now. We don't have much time to waste now that we've hopefully identified who Lavion has hired.

I reach the campus and see that everybody is standing outside and for the good reason. The school is wobbling and shaking like a bowl of jelly. Principal Morris is walking around, making sure everybody is there, I guess.

" _There_ you are!" I exclaim as I finally see the others and walk up behind them. They turn around, their eyes wide with surprise. "Come on!"

"Toby, what-" Lucas starts to say.

I lower my voice to a whisper as I tell them insistently, "We have to go back to Gorm like _right now!"_

The others follow me back home and into the Primal Pad, Jessica and Lucas occasionally supporting Nick when he seems in danger of falling over. I jump into the Keeper's chair and look around at them.

"Why is stuff all jelly-shaky again?" Jessica asks in a confused tone, frowning. "I thought the Earth Gormiti had, like, _mega_ defenses put up now!"

Razzle jumps onto the edge of the Gorm Gate between where Nick and Lucas were standing. "We did some research on the electromagnetic spheres the mercenary was shooting!" he says. "Only _one_ Lava Gormiti has a weapon like that! He's called the Anonymous Multiform and he's a shapeshifter - able to turn into any inanimate object - which means..."

"He can slip past any defenses!" Lucas finishes for him.

"That's a big Bullrock bullseye, kid!" Razzle confirms. "The perfect mercenary for Lavion!"

"We have to get back in there!" Jessica exclaims before adding, "I mean me and Lucas we, not so much Sneezy McUpchuck!"

Sneezy McUpchuck? That's something I wouldn't have thought of. I doubt Nick will like being told to stay behind again, though.

Sure enough, he protests, "No! I know I should have taken a sick day! If I'd stayed behind, you guys would still be there protecting Bullrock right now! But, sick or not, you've gotta let me help clean up my mess!"

"You mean on the cafeteria floor?" I ask jokingly, knowing exactly what he means but wanting to ease things up a little.

" _No!"_ he exclaims, frowning. "I mean-"

"Kidding!" I tell him, grinning. "Go on and get in the gate! I got your back!" I move my hands over the crystals to open the Gorm Gate once more and the three of them jump in along with Razzle.

They land not far from the Earth fortress and quickly transform. Now that we know who the _real_ bad guy is, we don't want to waste time.

I watch them walk forward until they are standing just outside the Earth Fortress. The entrance is blocked off with a huge slab of stone. Wow, these guys really are paranoid, though I guess they do have reason to be.

"So now we have to break into the Earth Nation capital?" Jessica asks the others.

"No time to go subtle either," Lucas points out before looking at Nick and asking, "You wanna do the knocking, Nick?"

Nick steps forward and punches the rock slab until it breaks apart. "Um...knock knock?" he calls.

The Earth Gormiti inside gasp, obviously not expecting anyone to actually be able to get through. As Nick leads the way inside the fortress, a few of them start hurling rocks which he and Lucas simply brush off or move to the side slightly.

"Watch out!" Jessica calls out in warning as more rocks are thrown. She creates a funnel of wind around herself that shatters the rocks into pieces.

The three of them carry on going before letting out alarmed cries as the two Earth Gormiti they encountered before jump down in front of the doorway they had been running towards. As one, they slam their fists into the ground, causing cracks to form and the ground to rise up, knocking Nick, Lucas and Jessica off their feet.

"Couldn't resist another try, assassins?" One of the Earth Gormiti asks.

"This time you won't-" the other one starts to say.

"Surrender!" Nick cries out suddenly, holding up his hand. "We surrender!"

The Earth Gormiti look at one another. "Another trick?" The first one asks suspiciously.

"No! Really!" Nick exclaims. "You _have_ to let us talk to Bullrock right now! He's in great danger!"

Once again, the Earth Gormiti look at each other. They seemed to be pondering Nick's words before turning and walking into the room behind them.

The others hesitate for a moment before following the two Earth Gormiti into the room.

"What is this?" Bullrock asks the Earth Gormiti as they walk in, followed by the others.

"Great Bullrock," one of the Earth Gormiti says, "these outsiders claim there is yet another mercenary after you!"

"No!" Lucas tries to explain. "Not another one - just _one!_ We told you we're not-" Suddenly he cuts himself off with a gasp as he looks over at Jessica who looks like she's been struck by lightning or something.

"What?" she asks, confused. "Do I have something in my hair?" Trust her to worry about something like that!

"No, but it's gone all _static-y!"_ Lucas tells her.

Nick lets out a gasp. "This was on the NAT!" he says excitedly. "It's a charged field! That means electromagnetism which means..." He looks up at where Bullrock is standing and yells, "Bullrock!" Nick starts to run forward, crying out, "Everyone get down!" as he runs up the steps before climbing up the wall and knocking Bullrock to the ground just as a lightning ball was fired in his direction.

Everybody down below gasps and the Lava Gormiti responsible for this whole mess finally makes himself known. "Bullrock," the Anonymous Multiform announces, "the great Lavion sends his greetings and his _farewell!"_ He points his arm, which has a hole at the end in place of a hand, at Bullrock and prepares to fire another lightning ball. "Taste Lavion's revenge!" he yells.

Before the attack can hit, Lucas sticks his hand into the ground as he cries out, "Jungle Attack!", forming strong brown vines that rise up in front of Nick and Bullrock, protecting them from harm.

Jessica and the two Earth Gormiti gasp. Lucas removes his vines and turns to face the Lava Gormiti. "Oh, are we doing paybacks now?" he asks. "Because we owe you a little of that!" He fires off one of his bark-like fists just as Jessica shoots several sharp feathers but the Lava Gormiti seems to disappear and the attacks hit the wall behind him.

"What - what did you do to him?" One of the Earth Gormiti asks, clearly confused. To be fair, I would be, too.

"I warn all of you," Bullrock says in a no-nonsense tone. "If this is another trick-"

"Careful!" Nick interrupts him. "He's a shapeshifter! Don't trust _anything!"_ He lets out another rock sneeze but this time Bullrock ducks to avoid being hit by the rocks which hit his throne, destroying the top part of it completely. "Except us!" he says breathlessly, recovering from the sneeze. "Trust us! Good guys - just kinda sneezy!"

Meanwhile, on the lower level of the fortress, Jessica seems to have spotted the bad guy as she points in his direction and cries out, "There!"

He becomes visible once more and fuses his arms together, forming a large hole which means he can fire a mega-huge lightning ball. Once again, he aims the attack at Nick and Bullrock who jump down from the ledge to join the others. The attack smashes into the throne, destroying it even more.

As Nick and Bullrock land, the latter gets to his feet and runs toward the Lava Gormiti, his fist raised as he lets out an angry cry. However, just as he is about to reach him, the Lava Gormiti disappears and Bullrock crashes headfirst into the wall.

The wall starts to crack, causing the others to gasp. Suddenly they and the two Earth Gormiti find that their legs are being grabbed by red hands, causing them to exclaim, "Hey!"

None of them are able to move which means that they cannot do anything to stop the Anonymous Multiform from carrying out Lavion's orders. The Lava Gormiti returns to his normal shape just as a slightly dazed Bullrock is standing up and fires a lightning ball directly at him, knocking him back into the wall. "Bullrock!" One of the Earth Gormiti yells.

Jessica and Lucas both gasp. "Oh no!" they cry, horrified before Bullrock collapses onto the ground. He appears to have been knocked out which seems to have been what the Lava Gormiti was waiting for as he releases everyone from his grip and disappears from sight once more.

One of the Earth Gormiti runs over to the unconscious Bullrock to check on him. The others run over as well, with the Earth Gormiti exclaiming, "He's still alive!"

"Well, of course he is!" the Lava Gormiti says impatiently as he resumes his normal form. "Lavion wants to see you _now!"_ On the last word, he stretches his arms out all the way towards Bullrock.

As he is getting closer, Jessica suddenly steps between him and Bullrock. "I don't think so!" she tells him. "Wind Attack!" She releases a funnel of wind from her hands which hits the Lava Gormiti's stretched arms, causing him to cry out and pull them back.

Everybody moves into position, ready to battle. Jessica and Lucas are the first to react, with Jessica flying up while Lucas raises his fist, preparing to attack.

"Stone Hammer!" Nick yells, transforming his left hand into a hammer as he runs toward the Lava Gormiti. He raises it and slams it onto the ground but the Anonymous Multiform simply jumps back.

Jessica and Lucas try next, shooting feathers and a bark-like fist respectively. "Blast of Bark!" Lucas shouts. The Lava Gormiti avoids the attacks by disappearing once more before reappearing near Lucas and the two Earth Gormiti.

The Lava Gormiti stretches out his arm and aims at Jessica who moves slightly to the side so that the arm goes through the wall, leaving a small crack. He then stretches his other arm out at Lucas who, unlike Jessica, is unable to move out of the way in time, meaning that he gets thrown backward.

Jessica starts to fly towards the Lava Gormiti who does his disappearing trick again in anticipation. At the same time, one of the Earth Gormiti also starts charging forward. The Lava Gormiti makes himself visible and looks between the two. I think I know what he's planning.

He waits for them to get closer before wrapping his stretched arm around Jessica and swinging her into the Earth Gormiti, sending them both crashing to the ground.

The other Earth Gormiti forms a boulder in his hands and throws it. However the Lava Gormiti disappears from view and sucks in his stomach so that the boulder kind of just bounces off and gets sent back. He also fires a lightning ball out of his hand which combines with the boulder and makes it travel faster and harder as it hits the surprised Earth Gormiti who falls backward, hitting the wall behind him, causing several large cracks to form as the wall crumbles down on top of him.

Jessica and the first Earth Gormiti stand up as the other one gets up from underneath the pile of rocks. Nick gasps breathlessly as he points out, "It's still... _five_ on one!"

They surround the Lava Gormiti as he declares, "Ha! But _I'm_ the only one who matters!"

Nick wordlessly transforms his right hand into a hammer and runs forward before leaping into the air and bringing it crashing down onto the ground. "Seismic Smash!" he yells, missing the Lava Gormiti who had obviously been his intended target.

The Lava Gormiti appears right beside Bullrock and picks him up. "Wha-" Nick gasps as the Lava Gormiti leaves the fortress, taking Bullrock with him. Nick gives chase, diving after them as the Lava Gormiti fires at the ceiling, sending boulders crashing down in front of the entrance to the fortress, sealing everyone but Nick inside.

"Bullrock!" One of the Earth Gormiti yells.

"Nick!" Jessica cries at the same time.

Meanwhile, outside the fortress, Nick clumsily rolls to a halt behind the Lava Gormiti who laughs as he turns around. " _You!"_ he says.

"Yeah, that's right!" Nick yells, obviously trying to sound more threatening than he felt. " _Me!"_

"No, I meant _just_ you!" the Lava Gormiti tells him as he drops Bullrock to the ground before changing the shape of his hands so that they resemble balls with spikes.

He stretches his arms up and brings them down on an unsuspecting Nick who slides backwards until he hits the rocky beam above the ground, causing part of it to break off.

"You're _slow_ , even for an Earth Gormiti!" The Lava Gormiti boasts as Nick gasps breathlessly and looks up slowly. "Aw," he says in a mock sympathetic tone. "Is the poor Lord not feeling well?"

Nick manages to get to his feet as the guy is speaking and takes a couple of steps forward. Looking thoughtful, he says, "What can I say? Sometimes you've just gotta take a sick day!"

D-did my brother just make a - a joke? I'm so proud!

Nick lets out a sound that has, by now, become familiar before letting out his biggest sneeze of the day. The rocks created from said sneeze crash straight into the Lava Gormiti who gets blasted right over the cliff nearby, crying out, "Nooo!"

"Say hello to Lavion for us!" Nick calls after him. I check the crystals and they are no longer detecting the presence of a Lava Gormiti in the area meaning that Lavion's mercenary has left. I sure wouldn't want to be him when Lavion finds out he failed!

Bullrock, meanwhile, seems to have finally woken up as he grunts and rubs his head. Nick lets out a small sneeze before wiping his face with his hand and complaining, "Ew, snot rocks!"

He and Bullrock make their way back inside the fortress where the rock pile had been more or less removed by the others who were anxiously waiting. They smash their way through what is left and reunite with the others.

"Come," Bullrock says to Nick who follows him up to the ledge where the throne is. "I must apologize on the behalf of myself and my people for assuming that you meant us harm," he begins. "From this day forth, the Earth Gormiti shall strive to never again jump to such conclusions!" He finishes his speech with, "And, in gratitude for saving me, I am honored to present you with this!", pointing at his throne or, rather, what's left of it.

"Your throne?" Nick asks, looking surprised.

"You deserve it," Bullrock tells him as he sinks into an honor bow, "for you are the _real_ Rock Nation champion! You and your warrior friends are the _true_ Lords of Nature!"

"I'm honored," Nick says, sounding a little overwhelmed, "but, as the Lord of Earth, I kindly ask you to remain on your throne, Bullrock!" He kneels down, placing his hand on Bullrock's shoulder before they both stand up and he adds, "You are a great commander and your people need you!"

Bullrock looks at him for a moment before silently walking to his throne and sitting down. "Then, out of my gratitude for all that you have done, it will be as you wish," he says.

Nick goes to join the others and they leave the fortress. I notice some Earth Gormiti removing the boulders that were blocking the path to the fortress. Now that the Anonymous Multiform has been taken care of, they don't need to be so over the top with the defenses.

I wave my hands over the crystals and bring them all back to the Primal Pad. "By the orbs of Gorm!" they say as they rise up out of the Gorm Gate.

They run over as I lower the chair and stand up and walk towards them. Nick lets out a disappointed sigh. "I know it was more important to save Bullrock but I still wish I could have finished that NAT!" he complains. Jessica and Lucas start laughing as I put my hands on the back of my head. I give up - I'll never understand his fascination with tests!

We head back up the stairs, Nick slouched over. "I seriously doubt anybody finished, Nick," Jessica tells him, attempting to cheer him up. "Last time we saw the school, it was rocking up and down like a wave pool!" I close the pantry doors behind me as she adds, "If _that_ doesn't get the school day canceled, _nothing_ will!"

"Oh, did you kids hear?" Mom asks and I walk over to join the others.

"Hear?" Nick exclaims before babbling, "Nothing! Home sick all afternoon! No hear! Ears plugged!"

"Of course they are, honey!" Mom says. "Well, here, it still may be on the news!" She switches on the TV which shows a news broadcast.

"So," the female reporter says, "after a thorough safety check from city engineers, school is back in session and the national achievement testing has been postponed until Monday! Back to you, Chad."

Nick lets out a sigh. "Best sick day ever!" he declares sarcastically before slumping on the table, causing the rest of us to start laughing.

Hold on, if the NAT is being held off until Monday, that means I won't get out of it after all! Oh no!

* * *

 _AN: Well, that's the end of the chapter! Sorry, it took so long to write but I don't have a lot of free time on my hands. I hope you enjoyed the chapter regardless._

 _I'll see you guys over at GL v.2 for my next oneshot (BlizzardStormshipping - Accident) so keep an eye out for that!_

 _Thank you so much for sticking with me (if you've been here since the beginning and for giving this story a chance (if you're new here). I know I say this a lot but you guys really are awesome!_


	16. Chapter 15 - Tunnel Vision

_AN: Hello, everyone, and welcome back to ROTLON! I hope you enjoyed the last chapter and I'm sorry it takes me so long to update but I hope it's worth it._

 _Well, I'm sure you don't want to read my babbling so let's get on with the chapter, shall we?_

* * *

"Where should we go next?" Jessica asks, her head swiveling in both directions as she looked at the shops surrounding us. The four of us had decided to take a trip to the mall to see what we could spend our pocket money on.

"Anywhere - as long as it's not a shoe store!" I say jokingly. "Or else we won't be able to get you out of there!"

Lucas starts laughing. "You can talk, Toby. If I remember rightly, you spent nearly an hour in the joke shop!"

Well, a master prankster needs to stock up on joke items every now and then!

Nick suddenly taps me on the shoulder. "Look who it is," he whispers and I look at where he is pointing before all the color drains from my face.

"You guys can't let her see me!" I exclaim as I dive behind them, attempting to hide from Madison. Unfortunately she turns around at the exact time I was moving. The resulting squeal is so high pitched it was only just possible for us to hear it.

"I can't believe you're here!" she cries, running over to me and grabbing my arms. "Now we can go on a date and-"

"W-wait a minute..." I protest as she starts to drag me away from the others but she ignores me.

"My knight in shining armor! You showed up at the perfect time! It's almost like we were destined for each other!"

I manage to turn my head to look at the others so I can beg them for help escaping from this crazy girl. Nick and Lucas are laughing at my predicament - they wouldn't be laughing if it was them! - and I honestly can't tell if Jessica looks angry or sad, which is weird.

As Madison drags me past a photo booth, I feel something grab my free arm and the familiar tingling feeling returns, meaning I don't even have to look to know who it is.

Madison drops my arm - finally - and turns around. "Problem?" she asks in an acid tone.

"You could say that!" Jessica snaps, glaring at her.

I feel kind of wary standing between them but if I move, I have a feeling they might start fighting. They seriously dislike each other - and that's putting it mildly.

"I happen to be spending some quality time with my boyfriend so if you'd just go and run back to your little friends and leave us alone, that would be great!" Madison says in a sugary sweet tone, contrasting with the glare on her face.

Wait a minute...

"He is not your boyfriend!" Jessica shrieks suddenly before turning to me and saying, "Right?"

I honestly have no words right now. I must look like a fish, opening and closing my mouth over and over again.

Madison is smirking. "Jealous? I'm not surprised. Nobody would look twice at you when they see me." She flicks her hair over her shoulder before sauntering away, blowing me a kiss as she leaves.

To my surprise, Jessica doesn't say anything in retaliation. She simply stares at the ground. I don't understand it at first - she's never been the type to take something like that lying down.

Then again, maybe it makes her think of...Of course! Why didn't I realize sooner? Comments like that must remind her of all the bad things her mom says to her, even if they're not true.

"You know she's talking rubbish, right?" I say to her and she lifts her head up to look at me.

"W-what?" she stutters, confused.

I look around and see Nick and Lucas approaching. I lean in close and whisper in her ear, "I mean you're ten times prettier than Madison Verne could ever hope to be."

Wow, did I just say that? And why is my heart beating so fast?

"You got rid of Madison then?" Nick asks as he and Lucas reach us.

"For now," I say, moving away from Jessica and sighing with relief. My heart is still pounding, however, and I notice that Jessica is once again having a staring contest, this time with the photo booth behind us.

After a few moments, she turns to us and suggests brightly, "Hey, guys, why don't we get our picture taken? It'll be fun!"

"Sure, why not?" we agree and the four of us squash into the booth. We have about five seconds to position ourselves and grin widely before there is a flash, indicating that a picture has just been taken.

We file out of the booth and wait for the photo to slide out of the slot. Finally there is a beeping noise and the photo appears in the slot, Jessica pulling it out and holding it up to examine it. "Aw, we look great!" she exclaims.

She holds up the photo for us to see. The four of us are squashed together, grinning widely. My hand is held up in a peace sign. "See!" Jessica continues as I spot somebody very familiar snooping around the corner, obviously hoping she won't get spotted. "Me and the boys all together and-"

"Psst!" I interrupt and she raises an eyebrow, letting out a noise of confusion. "Over there!" I say in a hushed tone. "It's aula-Pay! Watch this!

I clear my throat before putting on a fake voice and saying, "And so our mission of global domination is nearly complete! Secrecy is key! Are you sure the humans remain unaware of our plans?"

As I say this last part, I move to stand beside Nick and elbow him. "Hey!" he exclaims indignantly before sheepishly adding, "Huh? Oh, right!" He then speaks in the same tone as I am. "Yes, O Supreme one!" Jessica and Lucas start chuckling as he adds, "Although I fear we may have a problem with the one they call...Paula!"

"Fear not!" I say. "By this time tomorrow, the Paula issue will be solved permanently." I hold up my fists for emphasis and add, "And then - the world!"

"I knew it!" she exclaims, marching out from her hiding place just as I knew she would. She can't resist the opportunity to bug us. "Aliens - bent on world domination!" She walks right up to us, pointing at me.

The others start laughing and I exclaim, "Paula! She heard?" I try to act like I don't have any idea what she's talking about. I hold my hands up and question "I mean who's an alien? Me! Says who?"

She frowns at me. "Oh, don't try to play innocent!" she says, pointing at me once again. "I heard your slimy extraterrestrial scheme - sort of!" A crowd of people appears to be gathering around as she continues. "You're here to destroy Earth with your weirdness and your abnormality!"

Conscious of the gathering crowd, I grab her arm. "Take it easy, will ya?" I say awkwardly.

She snatches her arm away. "Don't touch me!" she yells and the crowd looks in our direction. "I'm on to you, Tripp!" she continues with narrowed eyes. "On you like dots on dice! Whatever it is, you'll never get away with it!"

I've had it today! First I had Madison bugging me and now Paula? I've had just about as much as I can take! "We're not up to anything!" I snap, losing my cool, as I step forward. "Go ahead, follow us. You know what you'll find? You're the weirdo! We are normal - n-o-r-m-a-l!"

Just then, there are screams behind us. I turn my head and let out a cry as I see dirt pouring out of washing machines. Paula laughs sarcastically. "You call that normal?" she questions.

"No, but I'd call it a mess!"

"Razzle!" Jessica and Nick exclaim.

"What's a crazzle?" Paula demands to know.

No, there is no way that Paula is finding out about Gorm. I whimper before grabbing her and, as Nick pulls the curtain open, pushing her into the photo booth. Nick slides the curtain shut and stands in front of it.

"Let me out! Help!" she yells and continues to do, occasionally yelling my name to.

"Oh, sorry!" Razzle, who is perching on the edge of the photo slot, says apologetically. "Didn't realize you had company!"

"Lemme guess - something to do with dirt, right?" I ask him.

"Yes!" he says in an I can't believe you knew that! tone. "How'd you know?"

"I could have told you that!" Nick points out. We run away from the photo booth while Razzle sort of takes his own route, I guess.

"We better hurry!" I say to the others. "Last thing we need is Paula trailing us!"

In about ten minutes, we finally get home and head straight down to the Primal Pad. We stand in front of the control panel as usual, waiting for Razzle to fill us in.

"Magmion is attacking the Rock Gormiti's number one gold mine!" he tells us.

"Interesting," Nick says as the image on the screen shows Magmion astride Drakkon. The Lava Gormiti laughs as the Ancient Guardian fires a stream of fire out of its mouth. "He doesn't strike me as a big collector of precious metals!"

"He's not," Razzle says, "but, to a Rock Gormiti, gold is a nutritious delicacy!" Wait, they eat gold? Why am I not surprised by this?

"I don't get it," Jessica says, confused. "He's stealing their munchies?"

"Well, essentially, yes!" Razzle replies. "Only he's not stealing!" The image shows Drakkon attacking the Rock Gormiti with its fiery breath. "His purpose seems to be maximum destruction!" Well, what else is new? "Cave-ins, landslides, collapses! Warriors need food - this could sway the tide of the war in Magmion's favor!"

With this said, the four of us run to stand around the Gorm Gate. "And every collapse in Gorm is another landslide here!" Lucas adds.

"Good old cause and effect!" I say as I shrug. "Gotta love it!"

"Your mission," Razzle tells us, looking serious, "is to stop Magmion!"

"Elementals!" we cry out.

"Air!" Jessica begins.

"Water!" I yell.

"Forest!" Lucas shouts.

"Earth!" Nick finishes.

As one, we chant, "Reveal to us the Keeper and give to them your chair!"

The chair starts to slowly stop spinning with Razzle announcing, "And the Keeper is..." The chair comes to a stop, displaying a light-blue icon with the Air symbol on the back. "...Air!" He dashes over to Jessica and says, "That's you, kid!"

Jessica runs over and jumps into the chair which rises up until she can reach the control panel. "Alright, boys!" she calls out as she props up the picture against one of the crystals. "Let's get Gorm-al and go for the gold!"

When the Gorm Gate is activated, the three of us, along with Razzle, jump in. "And...touchdown!" Jessica says as we finally land. "We're looking good! Travel Tome confirms a bulls-eye!"

Well, we are in the Earth Nation which is where we're supposed to be. It's just that... "Yeah," Razzle says nervously. "I'll say!"

"Attack!" Magmion yells from Drakkon's back. Flying alongside them is a winged Lava Gormiti we've never seen before. They head away from us, towards a few Earth Gormiti who we recognize from previous encounters, one of them being Bullrock.

Drakkon releases a stream of fire from his mouth causing the two Earth Gormiti to cry out as they run in opposite directions to try and avoid being hit with the worst of the flames. They both fall painfully to the ground but they could have been hurt a lot worse.

Meanwhile Magmion's companion fires several small flames out of his hands at a third Earth Gormiti - Steelback - who turns and defends himself with his, uh, steel back? Well, it's like a shell, isn't it?

We wait patiently for our chance to strike. After a while, Jessica finally announces, "You're good to glow!"

"Elemental powers flow, Gormiti - Lords of Nature, go!" the three of us yell together.

"Powers of the Sea!" I cry out as I transform.

"Ah," Magmion says once we've all transformed. "The Lords of Nature!"

"The Lords of Nature are back in town!" I tell him as I frown while pointing at him. Magmion laughs and Drakkon roars as he swoops down towards us. "Aqua Blast!" I yell, releasing a stream of water from my stomach.

Lucas fires off a bark-like fist, crying out, "Blast of Bark!"

"Rock Storm!" Nick shouts, shooting several small and sharp rocks out of his hand.

Drakkon moves to the side slightly, avoiding most of our attacks. "I wondered how long it would take you to show up!" Magmion says before letting out a pained cry and clutching his arm as one of Nick's rocks hits him. "Fire, Drakkon!"

We are forced to dive out of the way as Drakkon obediently fires a stream of fire at us. I turn so I am laying on my back. "Lava loser!" I yell. "Take that!" I release a steady stream of water globes that hit Drakkon dead-on. However he recovers quickly and flies with Magmion past us into a cave entrance, causing us to cry out with surprise.

The three of us exchange glances before we follow them in. If they're trying to make a getaway, we won't let them. Jessica projects her image alongside us as we run. "Whoa, guys!" she exclaims. "I don't know what's up but you're using up a lot of power just being in there!" Suddenly her image starts to flicker and glitch. We can barely make out what she is saying, though it sounds like, "Can you guys even hear me?"

As her image flickers worse than before, Nick yells, "Jess, you're not coming through! There's heavy signal interference!" Suddenly her image disappears altogether as he finishes with, "We can't even hear you!"

There is no response. Jessica is nowhere to be seen or heard. "There's something weird about this place..." I mutter as we try to keep track of Magmion and Drakkon.

Eventually, we stop as we come across a fork in our path. We look around for any sign of Magmion or Drakkon, refusing to believe we had lost sight of them.

My eyes dart across from one tunnel to the other. I turn towards the others to ask which direction we should go when I feel searing pain. I cry out as a fireball slams into me, sending me flying backwards into a wall.

The impact causes small chunks of rock from the roof to fall down amongst us. I look up and glare at Magmion who declares, "Time for the flame game!"

Drakkon opens his mouth and releases a stream of fire, forcing Nick and Lucas to run in order to avoid being burnt. Lucas doesn't escape entirely unharmed, however, as the lava dragon swings his tail right into him, knocking him to the ground.

Magmion then points at me and Drakkon once again fires his fiery breath but I am ready, retaliating with ice-cold water globes. They hit Drakkon, causing his attack to cease. However, as he flies past, he swings his tail out and sends me crashing back into the wall for a second time.

The crumbling is starting to get worse. As I struggle to get to my feet, for a moment, I think I hear Jessica's voice calling out my name fearfully. "Magmion..." I say through gritted teeth as I fire as many water globes as I can at him.

His laughter continues as the number of water globes I am able to produce starts to lessen. I have the awful feeling I know what's coming and sure enough I feel myself returning to normal. My powers must have run down!

"Oh no!" I exclaim as I look down at my now-human hands. "I'm out!" Drakkon, apparently not caring that I now have no way of defending myself, roars and fires a stream of fire. I cry out as I dive out of the way.

As the roof continues to crumble, I call out, "Nick!"

"I'm on it!" he calls back. A moment later, the rocks start to float upwards, sealing the hole in the roof.

Before we have time to do anything else, Magmion hits Nick from behind with a blast of fire, causing him to collide heavily with the wooden support keeping the cave stable.

As the crumbling and shaking begins again, Magmion says, "And now to finish the job!" He fires a blast directly at the support which breaks immediately. I cry out as the roof loses support and starts to crumble even more.

"Cave-in!" Nick yells as I whimper and make myself as small as possible while he uses his rock-hard body to protect me. I can hear the sounds of the rocks falling around us and, judging from the volume of the thuds they make as they hit the ground, they're getting bigger.

Once the worst of it is over, we stand up. "Watch out!" Nick yells in warning before letting out a cry. I turn my head and watch in horror as he powers down too. This is not good. Not good at all!

"Lucas!" Okay, this time I know that was Jessica's voice I just heard, especially since Nick seems to have heard it too.

"Jungle Attack!" we hear him yell before he adds, "I can't hold it for long!"

"Come, Drakkon!" Magmion shouts. "Our work has only just begun!" What does he mean by that?

Nick and I watch as he and Drakkon go further into the cave, Magmion laughing triumphantly. The roof is coming down without a doubt and neither of us want to risk being trapped in here without our powers.

"Lucas, come on!" Nick yells as we head for the exit.

"Go on!" he calls after us. "I'm right behind you!"

We run, panting heavily, as more and more rocks start to fall. The entire cavern is shaking as we finally see the exit and dash towards it.

There are loud thuds behind us. Nick and I turn around and gasp. Blocking the entrance are several boulders which means only one thing - Lucas is trapped!

"Lucas!" we yell together, backing away slightly. I feel Razzle climb up onto my shoulder as we stare at the blocked entrance in disbelief.

"The Lord is buried! Dig! Dig!" Steelback says urgently.

We get to work right away. The Earth Gormiti take on the heavier rocks - with Bullrock punching through them with his fists - while Nick and I move the smaller rocks. Even Razzle is doing his bit to try and free Lucas!

Eventually, it becomes apparent that we cannot move any more rocks. "This would be so much easier if we still had our powers!" I complain.

Jessica projects her image beside us. "Are you guys alright?" she asks worriedly.

"We're fine," Nick says, "but Lucas..."

"Can't you gate him out of there?" I ask.

After a couple of moments, she shakes her head and looks apologetic. "No can do, Toby! There's some sort of magic - or something - in there that's preventing me from being able to gate him back home! I could barely communicate with you guys while you were in there!"

"So he's stuck in there?" I say incredulously.

"For now," she replies. "At least...until we figure out a way to get him out of there!"

Nick looks around. "At least the attack seems to be over!" he says with relief before wondering aloud, "But where's Magmion?"

Suddenly I hear a strange noise. It sounds like muffled yelling. "Hey!" I exclaim, getting everyone's attention. "Listen!"

Everybody presses an ear to the rock and the yelling becomes clearer. "I'm here! Here!" Nick and I exchange excited glances as we immediately recognize the voice.

"Lucas!" we yell. I look around and pick up a small pebble before tapping against the rock with it.

"Lucas!" I call, continuing to tap.

"Toby!" he calls back, sounding relieved.

"Lucas, Lucas, we're coming for ya! Hang on!" I tell him.

"I'm okay!" he says before suggesting, "Hey, just get Jessica to pull me back home!"

Of course, Lucas doesn't know that that isn't possible. "It's a no-go, buddy!" I inform him. "She's got interference causing some kind of...signal block on ya!"

When Lucas replies, he speaks with a foe that suggests he's trying to act calmer than he feels. "Alright, alright, no biggie! I think I can find another way out of here!"

Jessica projects her image beside us again. "Tell him I'll keep trying!" she says before letting out a groan and adding worriedly, "Something's wrong! I'm bringing you two back!"

Nick and I look up as the portal forms above our heads. We rise up into it, coming out of the Gorm Gate. "By the orbs of Gorm!" we say together.

When we look around at the Keeper's chair, we see, to our surprise, that it's empty. "Jessica?" we ask as we run over to the chair, wondering where she could have gone.

"Up here!" she calls and we both gasp as we see a wave of dirt coming down the stairs. "A little help, please? Help!"

We run up the stairs as quickly and as carefully as we can. Neither of us want to slip and fall on the dirt.

I reach the top of the stairs before Nick does and see Jessica struggling to close the washing machine door, which is where all the dirt is flowing from. I head over and push both my hands against it and it finally closes. I lower myself down onto one knee, letting out a sigh of relief, as Jessica and I continue to hold the door shut.

"Kids, hello?" we all hear Dad call and we gasp before screaming in unison. "You at home?"

I leap to my feet as Nick cries, "Oh, no!"

"It's Dad!" I exclaim.

"Shut the stairs! Shut the stairs!" Jessica says frantically.

Quickly I wave my hand across the panel which slides shut and we all watch the stairs disappear and the floor returns to normal.

"Hello?" Dad calls again. "Boys?"

Razzle lets out a gasp and dives into the clothes basket, hiding within the clothes. It's a good thing, too, as Dad opens the door a moment later and exclaims, "Where'd all this dirt come from? My kitchen is a no-spill zone!"

"We know, Dad!" I say quickly. How are we meant to explain this? "This is a... a science project for school!" I invent.

Jessica catches on immediately. "We're...making a worm farm!" she adds, walking over to us.

Suddenly the doorbell rings. I didn't think we were expecting any visitors today! "Door, Dad!" I say. Dad looks at us suspiciously before leaving to go and answer the door.

We breathe a sigh of relief. Razzle pokes his head out of the clothes. "That was close!" he states.

Before we get the chance to do anything, though, Dad comes back. Razzle quickly dives back underneath the clothes. "Guess who it was?" he says excitedly. "Paula!"

I groan. "Tell her we're not here!" I say irritatedly, only to let out an "oh" when she steps out from behind Dad. Is today the day when every person who annoys me - Madison and Paula, mainly - show up to, well, annoy me?

"Thisis not a science project for school!" she says, frowning as she steps forward. "It's soil! Soil from your evil alien homeworld brought here in that!" She points to our washing machine and exclaims, "Your spaceship! Disguised as a normal Planet Earth washing machine!"

Okay, she's officially lost it! How does that even make sense? Dad doesn't seem to know what to make of it either as he says awkwardly, "Well, uh, I'll just leave you to your little games!" before leaving.

We wait until Dad has gone before all three of us frown at Paula who turns to look at us. I put on my alien commander voice and say, "I'm sorry but I'm afraid you know way too much! You've become a risk to me, my crew and the success of our mission!" I walk towards her and she backs away fearfully until she has stepped out of the pantry. "As such, I have to remove you from the equation!"

"W-wait! S-stay back!" she stutters. "What does that mean?

In reply, I slam the doors shut. As we head back down to the Primal Pad, we hear her let out a frustrated scream.

Once we reach the bottom of the stairs, Jessica goes to sit in the Keeper's chair while Nick and I begin pacing impatiently.

"Don't push it, Toby!" Jessica says after a while. "She's wrong about the aliens but we don't want her finding out about the Gormiti!"

"Never mind her!" I say as we stop by our orbs to check on their progress. "Get us back to Lucas!"

Nick shakes his head, glancing at my orb.

"No can do!" he tells me. "Still charging!" I let out a frustrated growl. Lucas is stuck in that mine and we're stuck here doing nothing.

We both look at Jessica who seems to be focusing on making some sort of contact with Lucas. Judging by the way she slams her fist against the control panel after a while, it's pretty obvious that her attempts haven't been very successful.

"Not having any luck?" Nick asks her and she gives him a _what do you think?_ look.

"I'd have an easier time getting a date for the Spring Fling I never went to, that's for sure!" she complains. "I don't see a way around this signal block!"

My head snaps up as soon as I hear the word 'date'. Realizing that I need to say something before they start to get suspicious, I ask, "You think there's something other than gold in that mine?"

"What makes you say that?" Jessica asks in reply.

"Well, think about it," I say. "If all Magmion wanted to do was destroy the mine, then..."

"Why go deeper in instead of trying to get out?" Nick finishes for me.

We go silent as we think about it for a moment. Eventually, Nick breaks the silence by saying, "Well, whatever it is, it must be pretty powerful!"

"Which explains why Magmion's after it!" I add. Magmion's the type to destroy stuff just to get his hands on something powerful.

"And it could also explain why your signals were being blocked from reaching the Primal Pad!" Jessica states.

"Whoa!" Nick cries out suddenly and I open my eyes, having closed them briefly. The screen shows a group of pyramids but that's not the strange thing. The glowing blue symbol, on the other hand... "Either our dimensional rift has escalated..."

"...or Lucas is in some kind of new trouble!" Jessica finishes worriedly. We watch her wave her hands over the crystals as she calls out, "Lucas, can you hear me?" All that happens is the image on the screen being replaced with static.

Undeterred, she continues moving the crystals around, trying different movements and slotting them into different slots. Nothing seems to work, though.

I glance at our orbs. They've charged up a fair bit since we last checked but not fully. How long is it going to take?

Suddenly Jessica lets out a startled cry. "Lucas!" she exclaims. "Can you hear me?" The static on the screen has been replaced with an image of Lucas crouching inside a fallen tree trunk. "Lucas? Lucas!"

"Jess!" Lucas says frantically. "I found Magmion! Quick - look up Undernet and Skeleton Key!"

Jessica picks up a book and quickly flicks through the pages. "Way ahead of you! The Skeleton Key can only be destroyed with mega Gormiti force!" she tells him.

Lucas looks worried. "Believe me, I would if I could!" he says before his face looks fearful and he backs away slightly.

"You can't win a war with would's and could's!" Magmion sneers as Drakkon peers down one end of the tree trunk Lucas is hidden inside.

Suddenly Troncalion pushes them aside and we see Lucas' expression brighten. "Troncalion, yes!" he exclaims before jumping onto the Ancient Guardian's head. "Go, go!" he says, pointing the way towards the exit.

Troncalion starts running but Magmion isn't one to give up easily. "Fly, my lava steed, fly!" he commands Drakkon who takes off into the sky, chasing Lucas and Troncalion down.

We watch them clear the river and enter the Undernet once more before the screen starts to go all static-y again. It alternates between static and working images. From what we can see and hear, Magmion is firing attacks at Lucas and Troncalion who are avoiding them.

"We've got rift! _Major_ rift! Worldwide!" Jessica exclaims worriedly.

I've had it with standing around here and waiting so I grab Nick's arm. "Come on! We're getting Lucas!"

He looks at me, his eyes wide in surprise. "But we're still not charged!" he protests.

" _'But we're still not charged!'_ " I say, mocking him. "Come on!"

"Good to glow!" Jessica confirms as we jump through the Gorm Gate. "We're looking good!"

The two of us land, transformed, outside the mine where the Earth Gormiti are standing. Now, all we have to do is wait for Lucas to get out.

We watch the entrance for what seems like forever when suddenly the rocks blocking it begin flying in all directions and there is a huge bang. Two huge shapes rush out of the dust cloud and as we turn to look at them, we see that they are Magmion and Drakkon chasing after...Lucas and Troncalion!

"He's clear!" Nick calls out. "Good to glow! Good to glow!"

"Ah! No!" Magmion yells as Lucas transforms before tackling him off of Drakkon. They hit the ground with a thud, landing separately. Drakkon flies off - I'm not sure if he's noticed that he no longer has a rider.

We all start running over as Magmion starts to get up and try to escape. "Jungle Attack!" Lucas yells as his arm transforms into a strong, brown vine. He wraps it around Magmion and flings him to the ground in front of us.

Magmion looks up at us as we step forward. "The Lords of Nature!" he exclaims as we all glare at him. I hear Troncalion growling in the background.

Razzle seems to get a _little_ over-enthusiastic as he says eagerly, "Get him! Use your left! Your _left!"_ Judging by the groan and the thud that follows, I'm pretty sure he just accidentally knocked himself out!

I reach my hand out and try to grab Magmion but he leaps back before jumping above our heads and landing behind us. "Fools!" he shouts as he turns to face us. "You can't stop me! I'll be back and you'll never know where or when I'll strike because..." He holds up the blue thing he is wearing around his neck. "...I have the _key!"_

"Key?" Lucas says innocently. " _What_ key?" He fires off a bark-like fist which hits the - what is apparently a key - out of Magmion's hand, causing him to gasp.

"No!" he yells, lunging forward to try and reach it. As he runs towards it, Troncalion raises his leg before bringing his...hoof down on it, shattering it into many tiny pieces. "The key!"

"Oh, _that_ key!" Lucas says as he walks up beside Troncalion who is growling. "Troncalion says ' _No key for you!'_ " he translates.

Jessica projects her image beside him. "Alright, Troncalion!" she cheers.

Magmion doesn't seem to share her enthusiasm. "Idiots!" he shouts, getting to his feet. "You have no idea what you've done!" He jumps up high and lands on Drakkon's back.

As we watch them fly away, I say, "Uh, yeah..."

"We do!" Nick finishes for me as we look at each other.

We walk over to Lucas and Troncalion. "Guess we'd better be going now, right?" Nick says.

"Um, guys, do you think we could head to the Forest Nation first?" Lucas asks us. "I want to thank Troncalion there. It's where we both feel at home!"

We nod and, after the Earth Gormiti thank us for our help, walk to the Forest Nation, Troncalion lumbering alongside us.

When we arrive, Nick and I stand back while Lucas steps forward to thank Troncalion. "Thank you, Troncalion!" he says gratefully. "You really saved my butt!"

Troncalion lets out a growl and Lucas turns his head towards us as he tells us, "He says he's only returning the favour!"

"Well, you don't have to worry anymore!" Nick points out. "Now that the key has been destroyed, the Undernet _can't_ be used for evil!"

"Come on!" I say. "Last one home is a rotten orb!"

The portal begins to form above our heads. As we rise into it, Troncalion lets out a growl. I'm pretty sure we don't need Lucas translating to know that he's saying goodbye.

"By the orbs of Gorm!" we say together as we come up through the Gorm Gate. We notice that Jessica is not in the Keeper's chair and look around to see her tiptoeing towards the stairs.

As we run towards her, she turns to face us, holding her hand up to stop us as she hisses, "Shhh! Paula's back!" Great.

"By the orbs of Gorm!" I whisper.

We stand at the bottom of the stairs waiting for her to leave. We can't leave the Primal Pad until she's gone!

When we can no longer hear her footsteps above us, we quickly take the opportunity to head back up to the pantry. As we busy ourselves with the washing, I pull the door closed.

"A-ha!" Paula says as she opens the doors. She makes a noise of confusion as we continue to work.

I turn around. "Oh, hey there, Paula!" I say. "I guess we didn't hear you come in! Say, did you ever get that problem fixed with your washing machine?"

" _My_ washing machine?" she shrieks. "No! It was _yours_ that went all _glooey!"_

I smirk at her as Nick says innocently, "Don't know what you're talking about! It's working fine!" as he gestures to our now-working washing machine.

Paula lets out a frustrated noise before turning on her heel and marching away. We watch her leave, laughing as we do so. The four of us exchange smirks. Hopefully she wouldn't bother us as much - oh, wait, what am I saying? It's Paula. She'll never give up on this fascination of proving we're not normal, will she?

After we've calmed ourselves, I say to the others, "Well, I don't know about any of you but I fancy a trip to _Mabel's_! Anyone coming?"

Nick and Lucas both decline, saying they have stuff to do, but Jessica's face lights up. "Ooh, I will!" she says excitedly. "I could do with a slice of her chocolate cake!"

"Jess, you say that _every_ time we go!" I point out as I grin at her.

She pouts and mutters, "I don't say it _that_ often!" causing me to burst out laughing. This causes her to frown as she says, "Are we actually going or are you just going to laugh about my liking for chocolate?"

 _Liking?_ She _loves_ chocolate! In fact, if I were to look up ' _chocoholic_ ' in the dictionary, I could imagine her picture being the definition! I don't say this, though, instead nodding and saying, "Sure."

We leave after saying goodbye to Nick and Lucas and start to walk towards Mabel's. Neither of us say anything which is weird for me because I have plenty of thoughts in my head. None of them are ones I wish to vocalize, though - I'd be permanently embarrassed if I did.

I feel something soft hesitantly touching my hand. When I look down, I see Jessica's hand slipping into mine. I smile as I look over at her but she seems determined not to make eye contact with me. The blush on her face is obvious, though.

Equally determined to get her to look at me, I entwine our fingers together and rub my thumb over the back of her hand. Almost immediately, she turns her head to face me, her eyes wide with surprise. "Hey," I say softly.

"H-Hi," she squeaks, her face redder than ever. She looks so adorable! And yes, I _did_ just think that. I figure that, since I end up thinking them anyway, there's no longer any _point_ in denying the thoughts I have about her. If she only knew, she'd be blushing a _lot_ more. She has an effect on me, that - I can admit, but I genuinely had no idea that I had _any_ effect on _her._

My mouth feeling dry all of a sudden, I decide to tease her. "Not very eloquent right now, huh?"

She pouts again and stutters, "S-shut up!" For a moment, we are both silent before we start laughing.

We are still laughing when we finally arrive at _Mabel's_. The bell on the door tingles as we step inside. "Oh, hello there, dearies!" Mabel says warmly. "No Nick and Lucas today?"

I shake my head and Mabel smiles, "Not to worry! So what will it be today?"

"A bacon sandwich and a soda for me, please!" I say eagerly.

"And I'll have a hot chocolate and a slice of chocolate cake, please!" Jessica says and Mabel writes our order down on a notepad.

"I'll have it ready in a jiffy, dearies!" she tells us.

"Thanks, Granny Mabel!" we say together.

I turn to Jessica and say, "Why don't you go get us a table? I'll wait here and pay for the food." She starts to protest but eventually nods and walks away.

As I watch her, I seem to go into a trance. For some reason, she's all I can think about and I don't really want to think about anything else. Geez, even when she isn't near me, she still manages to turn my brain into mush! I seriously need help!

"Are you alright, dearie?" I notice a hand being waved in front of my face and snap out of my trance to see Granny Mabel standing in front of me holding a tray with our food on it.

"S-sorry, Granny Mabel!" I say apologetically as I pay for the food. "I don't know what happened!"

She gives me a knowing smile which confuses me as I walk over to the table Jessica is sitting at and sit down, placing everything down on the table.

As we start to eat, Jessica asks with concern, "Are you okay, Toby?"

Hearing her voice almost makes me fall out of my chair...almost. "I'm fine," I say in what I hope is a reassuring tone.

Apparently, it doesn't work as she frowns and says, "Are you sure? It looks like something's really _bothering_ you!"

Not just _some_ thing - a _lot_ of things. I sigh, realizing she won't let this drop. I put down my sandwich, take a gulp of soda and say, "Well, have you ever wanted something that could be so amazing and wonderful yet you're afraid to take the risk because it could ruin something amazing and wonderful you already have?"

"I don't _think_ so," she replies honestly. "It'd help if you told me what it was really about."

My eyes go wide. Telling Jessica that I might actually li- okay, we're stopping there - is the _epitome_ of a bad idea. "Um, I can't explain it right now!" Or ever!

"That, or you just don't _want_ to!" she points out and my eyes go wide. How can she _know?_ Sometimes I swear she knows me better than I do which is ironic because she has told me on various occasions that I seem to know her better than _she_ does!

"So, anyway," I laugh nervously before growing serious. I look her straight in the eyes as I speak. "Jess, I want you to promise me something. Promise me that if you're ever hurt, if you feel like you're alone and everything's overwhelming you, promise that you'll talk to me. Don't bottle everything up - it's not healthy. Promise me."

Her expression is unreadable at first and I worry that my request had been too bold. Then she gives me a small but radiant smile as she says, "Okay, but only if you promise to do the same!"

I smile back at her as I nod my head. I feel kind of worried about promising to burden her with my troubles when she already has enough to deal with herself. However I know that she would feel incredibly hurt if I was hiding something and didn't tell her because I didn't think she could handle it.

We finish eating while chatting about random things, including whether our Math and English teachers are dating - apparently, she heard that rumor from Gina.

We stand up to leave and walk towards the exit, remembering to thank Granny Mabel. As we approach the door, I place my hand on Jessica's shoulder. To my slight amusement, she jumps. "You go on ahead," I tell her. "I need to ask Granny Mabel about something."

She takes the hint and pulls me into a hug which I didn't expect. I'm certainly not complaining, though. We stand for a few moments just holding each other tightly before she pulls away and walks out the door.

As I walk over to the counter, I feel relieved that nobody else is here. This conversation is gonna be awkward enough without other people listening in.

"Anything I can help you with, dearie?" Granny Mabel asks.

I take a deep breath. "When you said you'd seen that look before, what did you mean?" I question.

She smiles and says only one word. "Lovestruck!" Upon seeing what mùst have been a confused expression on my face, she adds, "The way you were looking at Jessica reminded me of the way I used to look at the boy I once loved. It was as though, in that moment, she was the most important person in the world to you."

I stare at her, completely speechless. How can she have known that Jessica was indeed all I was thinking about at that time? I didn't think I was being _that_ obvious!

"Tell me one thing," Granny Mabel says. "Do you care about her?"

My head snaps up as I blurt out, "Of course I do! She means _everything_ to me!" As soon as the words leave my mouth, my heart starts to beat faster. I _really_ messed up this time!

"Let me tell you a story," Granny Mabel says and I look at her as she begins her tale.

"When I was around your age, perhaps a little older, I had a best friend named Geoffrey Midhurst. We were neighbors and our mothers practically raised us together. I don't remember exactly when it happened but over the years of us growing up together, I came to develop feelings for him. I never told him, though. I was too afraid of ruining our friendship."

She pauses to wipe her eyes before continuing, "Eventually, on my twenty-third birthday, I decided to tell him the truth about how I felt. I approached him at my party and we were talking when he suddenly gave me a card. When I read it, my heart broke."

"What was it?" I ask, even though I'm pretty sure I know the answer already.

She smiles sadly. "A wedding invitation," she says. "Turns out he was engaged to a classmate of ours - Felicity Taylor. I waited too long and I lost my chance. I remember fleeing from my own party. I ran home, went straight to my room, threw myself onto the bed and cried for hours."

"I'm sorry," I say, not knowing what else I can say.

"It's alright, dearie. It's all in the past now. We're still on good terms," she assures me.

I appreciate the story but I'm not really sure why she's telling me all this. "Now you said that you care for her, correct?" Granny Mabel asks and I nod, not seeing any point in denying it. "Your problem is that you're afraid to admit it. Not just to her but also to yourself. Admitting your feelings would mean having to accept that you can no longer see her as just a friend."

"But I don't..." I start to protest but she holds her hand up to stop me.

"You and I both know that you cannot deny that you hold her in high regard. Perhaps you don't know it yet but you care for her more than I think you even realize."

Suddenly she looks up at me. Her eyes, usually shining with joy, are filled with sorrow and regret. "Please...don't make the same mistake I made! Accept your own feelings and it will make things much easier. If you cannot accept them yourself, how can you expect her to accept them if you were ever to admit the truth? Don't let your fears get the better of you like I did or you'll live the rest of your life regretting it."

I thank her and leave. Jessica is standing outside waiting for me. It surprises me because I was under the impression she would have gone home. Still, I am happy to see her, even if my mind is a jumbled mess right now.

"You find out what you wanted to know?" she asks me curiously.

"Sort of," I reply, Mabel's words ringing in my brain. Talking to her had indeed helped but, at the same time, it had also made things worse.

As we start to head for home, she once again slips her hand into mine which I accept without complaint. My head is swimming, though. All I can think about is what Mabel told me and whether there could be any truth to it.

I care about Jessica, of course - there's no denying _that_! But could I really, actually have...?

This is all so confusing and complicated! I don't even think I can trust my own thoughts anymore. Granny Mabel was right - I _am_ afraid! ' _Accept your own feelings and it will make things much easier.'_

The question is: what feelings am I supposed to accept?

* * *

 _AN: Hey, guys, sorry this took forever to write but hopefully you enjoy it all the same. Thank you all so much for sticking with me and being so patient with my uploads!_

 _See you next time!_


	17. Chapter 16 - Toad House Blues

_AN: Hello, and welcome back to ROTLON! I hope you enjoyed the last chapter and are enjoying both this and GL2!_

 _But enough of me, let's just get on with the fic!_

* * *

Lucas, Jessica and I are standing in the garden watching Nick tinkering with something. I have no idea what it is but it seems to be made up of a vacuum cleaner hose, a bucket and one of our old dustbins. He had insisted on the way home from school that it was something really cool and innovative.

"Well?" he asks us as he finally finishes up what he's doing. "What do you think?"

"What _is_ it?" Lucas asks, voicing what I am thinking as I frown at Nick's invention with confusion.

Nick looks incredibly pleased with himself as he answers proudly, " _Super_ Vacuum! Now, Mom can get the house cleaned in a _fraction_ of the time it used to take her!"

I allow the bubble of chewing gum I had just blown to pop before letting out a disappointed groan. "Why don't you ever make something _fun_ like a waterslide or something?" I ask him as he switches his machine on.

He holds up the hose with a bucket attached to the end of it. "Here, check this out!" he says before holding it over a dusty carpet. We watch as the dust gets sucked off the carpet.

"Hey, it's working!" Jessica says, sounding impressed. I just continue to chew gum while frowning - I still think a water slide would have been cooler!

"See!" Nick says, turning to look at us. "What did I tell..." Apparently, his vacuum was stronger than he thought because it sucks up the carpet. He looks horrified upon seeing the carpet disappear up the hose and finishes with "...you?"

We watch as he unintentionally points the hose at a garden gnome and Nick lets out a "Uh-oh!" as it, too, gets sucked into his vacuum.

"Dude, that was Dad's favourite lawn gnome!" I remind him. "You are so _busted!"_

Nick looks at me briefly before letting out a scream as the vacuum suddenly starts to move around on its own, with him clinging desperately to the hose. The three of us blink at it in awe as Nick yells, "Look out!"

Coming to our senses, we scream and run in different directions. I run towards the house and turn to see Lucas leaping over the fence with a scream.

Suddenly I hear Nick yell, "I think I just sucked up Razzle!" Wait, Razzle's here? Well, that would explain why I heard Lucas scream again earlier.

Jessica and Lucas are standing in the middle of the garden looking around as Nick and his vacuum float around them. Jessica takes a couple of steps forward before letting out a scream as she manages to grab hold of the handle of the dustbin.

"Look out!" Nick yells, now that the vacuum is dragging them both around. Lucas and I watch from opposite ends of the garden as Jessica manages to lean her feet against the sides of the dustbin for balance before pressing her hand against a button, finally bringing Nick's contraption to a stop in front of Lucas. Mental note: avoid Nick's inventions from now on just in case they go crazy!

I walk over to them as Jessica jumps from the bin and lets out a sigh of relief. The lid on the dustbin pops open and Razzle pokes his head out, coughing furiously. "That _sucked_!" he says once he gets his breath back. "Kind of _dangerous_ , no?" he asks, looking at Nick.

"There are safeguards to prevent any damage to objects which may be..." Nick lets out a nervous laugh before adding, " _accidentally bagged!"_

Razzle doesn't look too happy about this as he says indignantly, "If I didn't have such important news, I'd accidentally bag _you!"_ shaking his tiny fist the whole time.

"Trouble in Gorm?" Jessica asks him.

Razzle leaps out of the bin, landing on the grass. "And then some!" he replies as he starts to walk towards the house. "I'll tell you all about it in the Primal Pad!"

Nick frowns at his vacuum cleaner for a moment before standing up and following the rest of us back into the house. We run straight into the pantry and close the doors behind us. Nick closes them a little too loudly, though - I think he's a little salty that his vacuum's test drive didn't go according to plan - so I hastily say "Shh!" to warn the others to keep quiet just in case Mom or Dad hear us from the living room and decide to investigate. Imagine how awkward _that_ would be!

Once we all slide our hands across the panel, we gain access to the Primal Pad and I lead the way down the stairs as usual.

We run to stand in front of the control panel while Razzle jumps onto it to explain what's happening. "It seems the Air Gormiti, Whirl Wing, has gone on a rampage!" The image on the screen shows a tornado uprooting trees as Razzle continues, "Attacking innocent Forest Gormiti and uprooting them from their homes!" The image then shows Whirl Wing as the one responsible for the attack. His name is kind of ironic, though, as he doesn't have any wings. I wonder how he flies or floats or...whatever it is he's doing.

"Did Forest do something to Air to incite Whirl Wing's rage?" Nick asks as we stare at the screen in horror.

"No, nothing at all!" Razzle responds. "Air and Forest have always co-existed peacefully! So something's definitely amiss!" You can say _that_ again! "It's up to you guys to figure out what's causing Whirl Wing's _strange_ behaviour!"

The four of us run to stand around the Gorm Gate before crying out together, "Elementals!"

"Air!" Jessica begins.

"Water!" I yell.

"Forest!" Lucas shouts.

"Earth!" Nick finishes.

"Reveal to us the Keeper and give to them your chair!" we chant while the chair begins to spin around at a dizzying speed.

"And the Keeper is..." Razzle announces as the chair slows down to a stop, revealing an orange icon with the Earth symbol on the back of it, "...Nick!" He looks over at Nick and says, "Looks like your little vacuum project will have to be put on hold for the moment, kid!"

Nick starts to run towards the chair, saying, "When the Gorm calls, we answer!" He jumps into the chair which rises up until he is level with the control panel.

As he manipulates the crystals to open the Gorm Gate, he whistles a little tune. "Okay, guys, ready to go!" he announces.

Without hesitating, Jessica, Lucas and I run round to one side of the Gorm Gate and cheer as we jump in one by one.

"And...touchdown!" Nick says as we land somewhere in the forest - judging by all the trees.

I look around but there doesn't seem to be any sign of trouble. "Seems peaceful enough!" I say.

"No!" Jessica disagrees as she stands up. "There's something in the air!"

At first, I don't get what she means until a gust of wind starts blowing out of nowhere, causing us all to cry out as we shield our faces from the unforgiving wind.

Through the howling and whistling, we hear a loud and desperate cry. "That sounds like trouble!" Lucas guesses after letting out a gasp. He leads the way to where the cry came from and eventually we arrive in a clearing. Only we are not alone.

A family of three Forest Gormiti are being attacked by an onslaught of wind, courtesy of Whirl Wing himself. They are crying out and clutching to each other as he mercilessly attacks them. "What is he _doing?"_ Jessica wonders aloud.

"We have to stop him!" I say. And fast - before somebody ends up getting hurt!

"Nick, we could seriously use some orbs here!" Lucas calls out as we continue to watch the Forest Gormiti being attacked, unable to help them without our powers.

"Already charging - just hang on!" Nick assures us. A moment or two later, he announces, "You're good to glow!"

"Elemental powers flow," the three of us say together as we raise our arms up in the air. "Gormiti - Lords of Nature, go, go, go!"

"Powers of the Sea!" I yell as I transform, letting out a fierce roar. We all frown at Whirl Wing who doesn't appear to have noticed us yet. "Let's teach this _windbag_ a lesson!" I say to the others before I run forwards.

"Whirl Wing!" Jessica calls as she flies up behind the Air Gormiti. "Why are you attacking the Forest Gormiti? Have they wronged you in some way?"

Either Whirl Wing doesn't hear her or he has but is just choosing to ignore her. Instead, he increases the strength of his attack, causing the Forest Gormiti to scream as they are lifted up from the ground, still clinging tightly to one another.

"Jungle Attack!" Lucas yells as he transforms his arm into thick, brown vines before stretching them out into the funnel of wind. He manages to wrap the vines around the ankle of the father Forest Gormiti and moves into the wind funnel. As a precaution, he digs brown vines from his other arm into the ground to keep himself anchored.

I watch in horror as the wind gets stronger and stronger. Eventually, I hear a snapping sound as Lucas' vines are uprooted, leaving him also trapped inside the wind funnel. "Time to branch out of this wind storm!" he shouts, wrapping his vines around the branch of a nearby tree. Unfortunately, the wind is so strong by this point, his vines just get torn away from the branch and he, along with the Forest Gormiti, remains helplessly trapped.

"Lucas!" Jessica calls in horror before flying over to and then inside the wind funnel. It's kind of hard to hear or see what's happening from out here but I hear her say, "I'm on it!" and I can guess that she's going to try and stop Whirl Wing's merciless attack. Sure enough, she yells, "Wind Attack!" creating her _own_ funnel of wind.

I see a bright flash as the two wind funnels collide for a brief moment before Whirl Wing actually increases the size of his, rendering Jessica's useless. Not content with being the only one with nothing to do, I prepare a water globe. "This ought to cool you down!" I call out before firing it with a roar.

It hits him directly in the back yet he doesn't seem to react. No offence but when somebody hits you with an attack, you generally notice it, right?

I decide to try again, crying out, "Aqua Blast!" as I fire a second water globe before firing another one in quick succession. However, despite both of them hitting him directly, he barely reacts once again.

Hearing Lucas scream from inside the wind funnel, I change tactics. Running forward, I stretch out the tentacles on my head, yelling, "Mighty Tentacles!" I aim to either pull Whirl Wing to the ground or get everybody out of the wind funnel but I never get the chance.

Whirl Wing moves the wind funnel directly in my direction, the force of the wind pushing my tentacles back and knocking me to the ground. I lay, stunned, for a few moments before sitting up and looking around at the sound of screams behind me.

"I can't slow this thing down!" Jessica yells as I watch the bright yellow flashes against the funnel of wind.

Lucas' response is, "Well, do something! I feel like I'm stuck in a clothes dryer!"

I see her fly out of the wind funnel and create purple energy between her hands which she fires at the base. She repeats this and, slowly but surely, the funnel begins to move forward.

Meanwhile, I return my attention to hitting Whirl Wing with more water globes, yelling, "Aqua Blast!" once more. He doesn't appear to notice being hit, though.

"The water is too much for it!" Jessica exclaims suddenly. "It's starting to wind down!"

I look around for a moment and see that she's right. The water from the nearby river is causing Whirl Wing's wind funnel to break apart. Unfortunately it also causes Lucas and the Forest Gormiti to start hurtling towards the ground.

The Forest Gormiti, still holding onto each other, let out screams as the ground gets closer and closer. "Energy Blast!" Jessica shouts, creating the same purple energy between her hands as before and firing it upwards. The Forest Gormiti land on it, looking rather confused.

Lucas then falls past them, letting out a scream of his own. "Lucas!" Jessica yells.

Looking around, I see that Jessica cannot possibly keep the Forest Gormiti safe _and_ catch Lucas at the same time. So I guess it's up to me to help out. "Catch you later, Whirly!" I call out to the defeated Air Gormiti before stretching out my tentacles and addressing Lucas. "As for _you_ , I'm catching you now!"

He lets out a surprised gasp as my tentacles wrap around his ankle, holding him just inches from the ground. " _That..._ was close!" he exclaims in relief before grunting as I let go of him, causing him to drop to the ground, unharmed.

Whirl Wing stops firing wind out of his hands and looks momentarily surprised before flying away. "He's getting away!" I shout before I hear an angry voice and look around for the source.

"Who do these Air Gormiti think they are?" the male Forest Gormiti asks angrily. I'm not sure if he's asking his family, us or just rambling to himself. "This is an outrage! I'm reporting _this_ to the council!"

As he and his family walk away - without even thanking us for helping them, mind you - I ask, confused, "The...council? _What_ council?"

Nick projects his image beside us and explains, "The Forest Nation Council. Each nation has a council which decides the policies for that nation!"

Great, we're getting into politics. Yipee!

"Like a government?" Lucas guesses.

Nick responds with, "Yes, pretty much! To call upon the council is a serious matter with serious consequences!"

"Like...banishment?" Lucas asks nervously.

Nick doesn't reply straight away but the look on his face says it all. Eventually he replies with, "Exactly, or _worse_!" His image disappears as I find myself thinking of things that could be a lot worse than banishment.

"Come on!" Jessica says as she flies over to us. "If we get to Whirl Wing first, we can avoid the council's intervention!"

"Which would be _great_!" Nick says as his image reappears. "But your orbs are low and I've got something to show you that _may_ explain what's going on!"

We stand and wait for him to gate us back to Earth. Eventually the portal forms above our heads and we rise up into it, calling out, "By the orbs of Gorm!" before finding ourselves back in the Primal Pad.

We run over to Nick who is flicking through a book. He hands me a piece of paper while saying, "Here, take a look at this!" I take it from him and look at it as he continues, "I noticed a weird design on Whirl Wing's back so I made a sketch of it!" Well, it is _weird_ \- I've definitely never seen anything like it before! It looks like a circle surrounded by three triangles but don't ask me what it means!

Lucas takes the paper out of my hand to examine the sketch. "Well, _that_ can't be a coincidence!" he says.

" _Exactly!"_ Nick agrees. "According to the book, it's a magic sigil that appears on the victims of possession!" He then reads aloud from the book, "' _Gormiti displaying these markings must be under the control of some other being or force!'"_

 _"That_ would explain why he totally gave me the cold shoulder!" Jessica says, frowning. "He acted like he didn't even hear me!"

"Yeah!" I chime in. "I totally nailed him with two water spheres and he didn't even flinch! It was kinda _freaky_!"

Nick finishes with, "So Whirl Wing isn't a villain - he's a victim!"

Lucas lets out a horrified gasp. "The Forest Gormiti council!" he says. "They've got to be told before something awful happens!"

Suddenly we all hear clanging and screaming from the house. "That sounded like Mom!" I exclaim.

We run up the stairs and leave the pantry, heading into the living room to a rather strange sight. Mom is standing on the table, whimpering and pointing at something while Dad is rushing around with a sweeping brush, attempting to hit whatever it is she's pointing at.

The four of us stare at the scene in confusion as we wonder what is happening. Mom lets out a scream and points at something. "Don't worry, dear!" Dad says as we look over to see what looks like a _frog_ hopping around the house. "I've got him!"

We watch, completely bewildered, as Dad chases it around the table, brandishing the sweeping brush above his head. Mom screams again and points it out when Dad loses sight of it. "Come back here, you miserable frog!" he says, standing near the frog's hiding place.

"Actually, Dad," Nick says suddenly, "it's a toad!" Frog? Toad? Who cares? They're both _disgusting_ , if you want my opinion!

Mom and Dad look at us, letting out gasps of surprise. Guess they didn't realize we've been watching them freaking out over that frog - toad - whatever it is!

Dad recovers quickly, though. "Well, either way - he's got to go!" he says firmly, before glaring at the place where the disgusting creature is lurking.

"Wait!" Lucas cries out in protest as he moves in between them. "There's no need to hurt the little guy!" He picks it up - why would he do that? - and says, "Let _me_ handle it!"

Dad looks puzzled but doesn't say anything as Lucas walks out of the living room with the frog in his hands. We follow him as he makes a beeline for the back garden.

I find myself letting out a gasp at the sight that greets us, however. We rush over to the window and I have to resist the urge to pinch myself. The scene before us is like something out of one of my nightmares!

Hundreds of frogs - sorry, I mean _toads -_ are hopping around our garden without a care in the world. What are they _doing_ here?

We make our way out into the garden, with everyone trying to watch where they put their feet. I gingerly step around and over them. I don't want _any_ of these things touching me!

"What _happened_?" Jessica asks. That's what _I_ want to know!

"Obviously something _major!"_ Nick responds as I continue to try and avoid the infestation. "These toads don't belong here!"

"And this many of them is bound to upset the ecological balance of Venture Falls!" Lucas points out.

I guess that's a bad thing but right now the only thing I care about is keeping these things as far away from me as possible! I let out a noise of disgust and exclaim, "Just keep these ugly things away from me!" I shudder at the thought of actually touching one - no way!

Suddenly I feel something on my back then on my head, causing me to cry out. I tentatively feel whatever it is that's on my head. It feels kind of weird...wait a minute...

I scream and yell, "Get it off! Get it off!" as I run towards Nick's machine - never did I think I'd actually be _glad_ to see it today - and switch it on, sucking the ugly little critter inside. Oh yeah!

Unfortunately, while I'm busy celebrating, the tube from his vacuum kind of gets attached to me. I pull it loose and run through the many frogs, screaming, "Help! It's attacking me!"

Eventually Nick apparently thinks I've suffered enough and switches the machine off. I let out a grunt as I land among the froggy... toady things. Ew...

"Don't underestimate the sheer suction power of my super vacuum! This is industrial strength!" Nick says proudly. I hear Lucas and Jessica sigh as I stand up and join them in walking over to Nick who opens the dustbin, allowing the frog inside to jump into Lucas' hands.

"Phew! Safe and sound!" he says happily, holding it close. Wait, am I hearing right here?

As I keep on trying to avoid the _other_ frogs, I hold my hands up and say insistently, "Get rid of that thing!"

Lucas looks highly offended as he protests, "He's not a _thing!_ He's a toad and his name is... _Peter!"_

 _Peter?_ Personally if I had to give it a name, it would have been ' _Disgusting creature I really don't like!'_ "How can you _possibly_ know his name?" I ask, even though I'm dreading the answer.

Lucas holds up _Peter_ and replies happily, "Because he's my new pet!" A toad for a pet? Is he actually serious?

"Hey!" Jessica exclaims suddenly as she steps closer to Lucas. "Look at his back!"

I keep my distance as the others examine the back of _DCIRDL - that's_ what I'm referring to it as from now on. "Wow, what a coincidence!" Nick says.

" _Nothing's_ _a coincidence!"_ Guess Razzle's here again. _"Something tells me that this toad and Whirl Wing's behaviour are somehow connected in this mess!"_

"It's got to be part of the rift!" I hear Jessica say. Well, if it is, we better fix it because I don't want these things near me any longer than necessary!

"Hey, bro!" Nick calls to me and I look over to see he has Razzle perched on his shoulder. "Are you planning on staying there _toad-hopping_ all day or are we gonna get back to the Primal Pad and try to figure out what's going on here?"

I stalk over to them, muttering "Toad-hopping!" under my breath as the others allow themselves a laugh at Nick's joke. It wasn't _that_ funny - these things make me uncomfortable!

We head back into the house and down into the Primal Pad once more. As soon as we get there, Nick slams a book down onto a flat rock and flicks through the pages, looking for information while the rest of us watch him.

"You have to hurry!" Razzle tells us urgently as he hurries over to us. "The Forest Gormiti council is convening!"

"Wait a minute!" Nick exclaims, interrupting Razzle. "I've found something! Says here these toads are indigenous to an island a hundred kilometres off the coast of Asia!"

Well, can we get them back to that island a hundred kilometres off the coast of Asia? Preferably sooner rather than later.

"Wow!" Lucas says, impressed. "There must have been some serious ecological upheaval for them to end up here!"

"Gorm legend says the markings are a spell of great power that was carved into the toad's back by ancients so it could be easily remembered in times of need!" Nick continues.

If I have to hear any more about toads or anything relating to them, I think I'll go insane! Besides we have to stop a possessed Air Gormiti, not worry about a bunch of disgusting creatures!

"That's really great, Nick," I say, trying not to let my displeasure about the problem show. "But we've gotta go!" I point towards the Gorm Gate. The sooner I'm in Gorm and away from those things, the better!

"Hey!" Jessica says, her tone making it perfectly clear she wasn't too pleased. "It could be important!"

"Yeah, and it could be a creepy frog fashion statement!" I argue.

Lucas frowns. " _Toad!"_ he corrects me.

" _Whatever!"_ I say as I walk off. It's about time we got back to Gorm and started worrying about the actual situation we have going on.

"Here," I hear Lucas say. "Take good care of Peter while I'm gone!" Phew! At least he isn't bringing that thing with him!

"I guess it's just you and me now!" Nick says to it just before Lucas, Jessica and I leap into the Gorm Gate along with Razzle.

We transform and land in the branches of a tree on top of the Forest Fortress. Looking below us, we keep silent as a flame bursts to life and a lone Forest Gormiti walks out of the fortress. I guess the meeting must be starting soon.

"Hurry!" Razzle exclaims. "The meeting is about to start!" He scrambles down a couple of a branches when I hear a strange noise.

"Did you hear something?" I ask the others in a hushed voice. I let out a gasp as I hear the noise again before that _pet_ of Lucas' hops right past me and into his hands.

"It's Peter!" he says happily, holding him out. "He must have followed me into the Gorm Gate!"

Without even trying to hide the sarcasm in my tone, I mutter, "Oh, great!"

"Worry about him later! We've got to get going!" Razzle reminds us. Well, I'm not the only person who's not worried about that thing! He then lets out a cry as the branch he is holding onto breaks, causing him to fall further down into the branches below us.

Luckily he manages to wrap his tail around a branch which is a good thing because it looks like the meeting has started. "This meeting of the Forest Nation is now in session!" one of the Forest Gormiti announces.

"Witness - come forth!" This time, the speaker is Cannon Trunk, a Forest Gormiti we had met before.

A Forest Gormiti from the family we had helped earlier steps forward. "It was Air!" he says angrily. "One came down from the sky and attacked me and my family!"

"But why would Air provoke Forest in such a manner?" This question comes from the first Forest Gormiti who had five leaves around his head.

Another Forest Gormiti - who seems vaguely familiar - replies while brandishing his whip-like vine, "Why not? Those who do not strike first are the first to be struck!"

The council members start murmuring and cheering, apparently supporting what he's saying. "The council is in agreement!" Cannon Trunk announces. "Air must be dealt a harsh rebuke!"

The three of us glance at each other. Now is the time for us to act.

"Wait!" Jessica yells as we jump down from the branches, landing on the ground below us.

"Who are _these_ to meddle in _our_ affairs?" the vaguely-familiar Forest Gormiti asks.

Cannon Trunk apparently _does_ remember us, at least, as he responds, "The Lords of Nature!" The council members whisper among themselves as he continues, "and if thou come in peace, thou shall be permitted to speak!"

"Thank you, Cannon Trunk!" Lucas says before Jessica starts to speak.

"Please, council members," she begins, "the Air Gormiti you're talking about is under some kind of mind control!"

" _Mind control?"_ The Forest Gormiti with a vine for an arm asks disbelievingly. Well, I'm not sure it's _that_ difficult to believe. Then again...

"Exactly!" she says. "His name is Whirl Wing and he doesn't mean to cause you any harm!" Wait a minute. Is it just me or did it suddenly get windier here?

Jessica lets out a gasp, having spotted Whirl Wing flying around near the tree we had hidden in. "It is him!" Cannon Trunk says. "This is unthinkable!"

Whirl Wing fires a blast of wind out of the holes in the end of his arms right at the council members. Jessica reacts quickly, firing her own blast of wind which not only repels Whirl Wing's but also sends him flying.

"Air has dishonored the sanctity of the Forest council!" Cannon Trunk tells her. She turns to face him as he adds, " _This_ is an act of war! The Air Tribe _must_ pay!" War? Isn't that a bit extreme?

"Wait!" Jessica says desperately. "Didn't you hear what I said? It's _not_ his fault! He's-"

Apparently not in the mood to listen to her reasoning, the vine Gormiti interrupts with, "The council has spoken! Your kind has broken the law!" His next command fills me with a fury I don't think I've ever experienced before. "Seize her - our first prisoner of the war!"

Before any of us get the chance to do anything, he stretches out his vine-like arm, wrapping it around Jessica's foot and pulling her to the ground with the help of two other Forest Gormiti. "What? Wait a minute!" she protests.

Razzle lets out a scream. Something inside me snaps. _Nobody_ does anything to hurt Jessica! And I mean nobody! I find myself glaring at one of the Forest Gormiti, a threatening growl slipping from both of us. All of the muscles in my body are tensed as I prepare myself to attack. They _won't_ get away with this!

"No!" Lucas says suddenly, putting his hand on my shoulder to hold me back. It snaps me out of it and I look at him, confused. "Attacking the council will only bring war against Water! You'd be no better than Whirl Wing!"

So what else are we supposed to do? Let them take Jessica prisoner when she hasn't done anything wrong?

Razzle apparently agrees with Lucas as he says, "Lucas is right! Do you want the entire Forest Nation on top of you?"

The stubborn part of me wants to say that I could handle it but I know, deep down, that they're right. The council would quickly overpower us if we chose to attack them.

We watch as two of the Forest Gormiti march Jessica inside the fortress. Once they're gone, Lucas calls, "Don't worry, Jessica! We'll get you out of this!"

"Oh?" I ask, a little snappish. "And how are we supposed to do that?"

"By bringing the _real_ culprit to the council!" Nick tells us, evidently not wanting us to start arguing. "It's the only way to prove Whirl Wing's innocence and grant Jessica's freedom!"

"Okay," Lucas says. "First we find Whirl Wing and then we find who's controlling him. Seems simple enough. Right, Peter?"

Wow, it's nice to be consulted! And I _still_ think he's being way too weird about that disgusting thing perched on his shoulder!

"First, frogs! Now, all-out war between the Air and Forest Nations! Who knows what will drop out of the sky next?" Nick exclaims.

Lucas turns to me and says, "Well, there's only one place we're gonna find Whirl Wing so let's get going!"

I simply nod as we start running. If I say something, it would either make him angry or I would end up embarrassing myself. I try to avoid thinking about his new _pet_ by thinking about saving Jessica. Thinking about Jessica, however, makes me remember the conversation I had with Granny Mabel. That's another thing I kind of want to avoid, for now - at least, until I've sorted out the mess in my head following that discussion.

Soon we reach the Air Nation and find ourselves standing at the base of Eagle Peak. It's a pretty impressive sight. "Let's climb!" I say, speaking for the first time as I start to climb up the mountain.

"Hold on tight, Peter!" I hear him say and I roll my eyes. As I continue to climb, I find myself struggling to pull myself up as my arms strain. My foot slips slightly and Lucas exclaims angrily, "Hey, watch it! You almost hit Peter!"

"Oops, sorry!" I call down to him before adding under my breath, "Next time I'll try not to miss!" I manage to pull myself up and carry on climbing.

Razzle, who is ahead of me, looks down and calls to us, "Come on, we're almost there!"

"Easy for _you_ to say!" I tell him as I reach him. "There he is!" I whisper as I spot a shelter on top of the mountain with Whirl Wing inside. I roll onto the ground, relieved that I no longer had to climb. Lucas joins me and puts his little _pet_ down on the ground.

"You stay behind me, Peter, and try not to get into any trouble!" he says.

The frog/toad/whatever it is croaks and Razzle says "Shhh!" And for good reason, too.

We watch as Whirl Wing floats out of the shelter, monologuing. "Soon Air and Forest shall take to arms and all my careful planning shall pay off handsomely indeed!" I'm not sure what's creepier - the blank zombie-like stare or the fact that he can somehow talk without moving his mouth like those...what do you call them? Oh, yeah, ventriloquists!

"I hear him talking but his lips aren't moving!" Lucas says, evidently as creeped-out as I am.

I glance at the shelter and my eyes widen as I spot another Gormiti. "That's because _he's_ not doing the talking! Look!"

A Lava Gormiti we've never met before walks out of the same shelter and it becomes clear that he is the one monologuing. What's more, it doesn't seem like he's finished yet. "Weakened from battle, neither tribe will be able to withstand the onslaught of my Lava Gormiti army! Domination will be mine!" He finishes his speech with - yes - an evil laugh. Good grief, what is it with Lava Gormiti and their evil laughs?

"I wouldn't count on it!" I tell him, stopping him mid-laugh. Lucas and I jump out and stand in front of him.

"Get them!" he yells, pointing at us. We look around just in time to see Whirl Sing hovering behind us before he releases a massive blast of wind.

I fire a water globe, crying out, "Aqua Blast!" However it does little more than turn the wind blue. Lucas tries next, wrapping his vines around Whirl Wing's legs.

"I got him!" he exclaims triumphantly. This small victory wasn't to last, though. Whirl Wing fires off another blast of wind, not at us, but at the ground nearby, churning up rocks. We both cry out as we get hit by the rocks and knocked to the ground. "Mental note: avoid flying boulders!" Lucas says breathlessly.

"Now you're gonna get it!" I say angrily as I stand up and charge forwards. "Mighty Tentacles!" I yell as I stretch out my tentacles, wrapping them around Whirl Wing and successfully stopping his attack. "Let's see you toss some boulders _now_ , Whirl _Wimp!"_

Suddenly my head starts to feel strange. "What...what's going on?" I say as I clutch my head with both hands, accidentally letting go of Whirl Wing in my distraction.

 _"Join me, Lord of the Sea, and you too shall stand motionless at my side! When I become Supreme Overlord of Gorm!"_

* * *

Okay, what's been going on here? Why does my head hurt so much? When did I activate my claw arm? Last thing I remember is grabbing hold of Whirl Wing.

"W-what happened?" Whirl Wing asks as he floats down to us. Believe me, that's _exactly_ what I want to know!

"That's a _long_ story," Lucas replies. "But we'll have plenty of time to catch up on the way to the council. Right, Thoughtcatcher?" This last part is addressed to the Lava Gormiti who is crawling away from Lucas' pet who is hopping after him.

"It is an Ancient!" he wails. "Keep him away!"

Suddenly something occurs to me. "Oh no!" I groan disappointedly.

Lucas gives me a weird look. "What is it?" he asks.

"I just remembered we'll have to climb all the way back down!" I say. "I mean climbing _up_ was bad enough!"

To my surprise, I hear chuckling from behind me. I turn around and see Whirl Wing struggling to hold in his laughter. When he sees me looking, he clears his throat and says, "Follow me, young ones. And bring the whimpering fire eater too."

Lucas and I haul Thoughtcatcher to his feet while Lucas' little frog hops onto his shoulder. Bemused, we follow Whirl Wing across the ledge to the other side of the platform. There a floating citadel hangs just in front of us.

"Is that-" Lucas begins.

"-what I think it is?" I finish for him.

We hear a whimper as we both yell exasperatedly, " _Razzle!"_

Razzle jumps onto my shoulder, laughing nervously as I ask, "Why didn't you tell us about this? It could have saved us so much time!"

"I - I...um...forgot?" he stutters.

"Come on, let's just go!" Lucas says.

We step onto the platform, still holding Thoughtcatcher between us. He seems remarkably still and quiet, though he does occasionally send fearful glances at the frog on Lucas' shoulder.

The platform lurches as it begins to descend, Whirl Wing floating alongside us as Lucas explains what happened.

"Whoa, whoa, wait a minute, back up there!" I interrupt him as I try not to burst out laughing.

"It's not funny!" he exclaims through gritted teeth. "I genuinely feared for my life at one point! Somehow, when you're possessed, you're a _lot_ more intimidating!"

I think for a moment before asking, "So I'm not intimidating when I'm normal, am I?"

"Nope," Nick says, laughing, as he projects his image beside me. "Not even in the slightest!"

"I wasn't asking you..." I mutter sulkily and I hear him laugh some more before his image disappears.

Eventually the platform reaches the bottom of the mountain. We all step off it and it begins to rise back up again. I'll tell you it's a relief to be back on solid ground again!

Without speaking, we rush to the Forest Nation and eventually we make it to the top of the imposing tree that is the Forest Fortress. Lucas clears his throat and says, "Hello, anybody here? We really need to speak with you! It's important!"

At first, nothing happens. Then the fire lights up as the council members begin filing out. Razzle whimpers and I feel him clinging tightly to my shoulder.

"What is the meaning of this?" the Forest Gormiti with a whip asks before his gaze falls upon Whirl Wing. "Seize him!"

"Wait!" Lucas and I both yell at the same time, stopping the Forest Gormiti in their tracks.

One of them frowns as he notices Thoughtcatcher. "Why is there a Fire Gormiti in our midst?"

Lucas glances momentarily at Thoughtcatcher before replying, "We'll explain everything if you'll let us."

The Forest Gormiti talk amongst themselves and eventually Cannon Trunk clears his throat, announcing, "Thy will be permitted to explain thyselves."

Lucas thanks him before beginning to explain, "This is Thoughtcatcher, a Fire Gormiti with the ability to possess other Gormiti with mind control."

"Mind control?" the Forest Gormiti with a whip-like arm asks, still sounding disbelieving.

"Yes," Lucas continues. "Whirl Wing wasn't attacking any of you by choice. He only attacked you because Thoughtcatcher _told_ him to!"

"But why would he do this?" the Forest Gormiti who had first noticed Thoughtcatcher asks.

Lucas looks at me so I respond, "By getting all the tribes distracted by fighting each other, he'd have nobody to stop him from taking over Gorm!"

The Forest Gormiti mutter among themselves before Cannon Trunk says, "Air Gormiti, do these young witnesses speak thy truth?"

Whirl Wing nods. "They do. I would never attack your people of my own volition unless I had a good reason to do so." he says.

Lucas then adds, "And we have proof too. Show 'em, Peter!" His little pet hops down from his shoulder onto the ground, back facing the Forest Gormiti who all let out similar gasps of surprise.

"It is an Ancient One!"

"Unbelievable!"

"So the young Air Lord _was_ telling the truth!"

We watch as Cannon Trunk walks over to two Forest Gormiti standing by the entrance to the fortress. He speaks to them and they nod before disappearing inside.

After a few moments, they return with Jessica whose face brightens when she sees us.

"O, Ancient One." Cannon Trunk addresses Lucas' pet. "Once again thy light reveals truth in times of trouble. A croak is his response.

"I hate to admit it but I think I'm starting to like this frog!" I say. Yeah, I never I thought I'd say that either!

Lucas rolls his eyes at me. "He's a _toad_ ," he says exasperatedly, "and his name is Peter - Peter the Ancient. You really should call him by his proper name!"

"On behalf of the council, we owe you and your friend an apology." Cannon Trunk speaks again. He turns to the Forest Gormiti and calls out, "Release the prisoner!"

The two Forest Gormiti on either side of Jessica stand aside and we watch as she soars joyfully into the air. We both give her a thumbs up and I let out a cheer, feeling happier than ever now that I - I mean _we_ \- have her back.

"Good job, guys! You did it!" she praises us as she comes to float in front of us.

"No - _you_ did it!" Whirl Wing tells her as he comes to hover alongside her. "You championed me and were punished on my behalf. Please accept my appreciation!"

She takes what looks to be from here a golden swirly thing and exclaims, "Wow! It's _pretty!"_

"It is a Travel Tornado spell," Whirl Wing explains. "When invoked, it can carry anything to the destination of your choice!"

"Pretty cool!" Lucas says. "But we've gotta get back home! Peter looks tired - I think he needs a rest!" Sure enough, the little frog - sorry, _toad_ \- is snoozing away.

"And don't forget we've got a ton of _Peter's_ to deal with when you get back!" Nick reminds us. Meanwhile Jessica flies down to us as Whirl Wing leaves, balancing the spell on her hand.

"That's right," I say as I remember the hundreds of toads in the garden. "How are those toads gonna get back home?"

We all think for a moment before Jessica starts lightly tossing the spell up and down on her hand. "I _think_ I have an idea!" she tells us.

"You do?" we say together, though I shouldn't be all that surprised. Jessica _always_ comes with the best ideas, even if they don't always sound great!

"Well, let's get you guys back home so we can try it!" Nick says. After a few moments, we rise out of the Gorm Gate and find ourselves in human form back in the Primal Pad.

"So what is this brilliant idea of yours then?" I ask Jessica as the three of us run over to join Nick.

"Nick's vacuum." she responds. Upon seeing what must have been a puzzled look on all our faces, she elaborates. "If we atttach the spell to the vacuum, we can suck up the toads and the spell will transport them back to whichever island it is they came from!"

"Sounds good to me!" Lucas says.

"I'll definitely be able to modify it for just such a purpose!" Nick adds.

I grin as I nudge him. "And, at least this way that little invention of yours will have _actually_ been useful!"

He frowns at me before sighing. "You're right. Mom wouldn't have been able to use it. She'd have ended vacuuming the entire contents of the house, not just the dirt and dust!"

Jessica hands the spell over to Nick as we leave the Primal Pad. Before we reach the back door, Nick turns to me and asks me to get the laptop from my room.

To my surprise, as Nick and Lucas head into the garden, Jessica follows me upstairs. The fact that we are alone hits me hard and I find myself recalling the conversation I had had with Granny Mabel.

The more I've tried not to think about it, the more I've ended up doing just that. The possibility that I might _actually_ have feelings for her is terrifying. Exciting, yes, but terrifying all the same. I mean I've _never_ felt this way about anyone. How can I be sure I'm not just throwing things way out of proportion?

Attempting to distract myself while I play _Hunt the Laptop_ in my chaotic mess of a bedroom, I ask, "Are you okay?" as I crawl underneath my bed to have a look for it there.

"I'm fine," she replies. "I just wanted to say..."

"Found it!" I exclaim as I see the laptop buried under a pile of comics just underneath the bed. Luckily it is fully charged so I unplug it before pulling myself back out. "Um, what were you saying?"

"I-It wasn't important!" she exclaims. "I guess I just want to ask..." She looks directly at me and says bluntly, "Why did you almost attack the Forest Gormiti when they took me prisoner?"

She noticed. Of course she noticed! She's Jessica - she notices _everything!_ I sigh as I put the laptop down on my bed. "I, uh, I'm not sure," I say. "Guess I...kind of...overreacted a bit." The truth is, I'm not sure why I reacted so strongly. Would I have reacted the same way if it had been Nick or Lucas in that position?

"You seemed like you were worried about me."

I look up at her. "I'm _always_ worried about you!" Before I can stop myself, I blurt out, "I don't know what I'd do if anything happened to you!"

For a moment, we are both silent. Then I feel her wrap her arms around me. I hold her tightly, ignoring the tingling that will undoubtedly last for hours and, instead, observe that she seems to fit perfectly in my arms - though I don't know why I'm noticing it at all. "Me neither," she whispers.

We continue to stand, holding each other. I feel her rest her head against me. "Sometimes..." she begins. "Sometimes I wish you'd never let me go. When you hold me, it's as if - I don't know - I don't think anyone or anything could hurt me as long as I have you."

I gently tilt her head up so I can look her in the eyes. "You'll _always_ have me."

The moment is broken when we both seem to realize just how close we are. We quickly step away from each other, clearing our throats and mumbling apologies as we head back downstairs, not forgetting the laptop, of course!

Outside it seems that Nick is just finishing modifying his invention. Jessica opens up the laptop and goes onto the internet, clicking on the Venture Falls News Network website.

When he's finished, he gives a thumbs up to Lucas who is holding the hose. Lucas slams his hand against the button on the side and we watch as wisps of wind swirl out from the machine to form a tornado.

With a sad look on his face, he places Peter on the ground and gives it a small wave. The toad lets out a croak as it is sucked into the hose and out into the tornado along with its buddies.

"It's working!" Lucas exclaims happily. Well, that's a relief! I might have gotten used to Peter but I doubt I'd ever have been comfortable with hundreds of toads living in our back garden!

Jessica opens up a live-feed of a newscaster reporting from some place called Spellback Island. A man with black hair and glasses announces, "I am standing here on Spellback Island where residents are stupified by the sudden disappearance of the island's entire population of toads!"

Suddenly a toad falls down onto the ground, letting out a croak. "Yes!" we all exclaim. The reporter starts to look more and more bemused as toads start to fall all around him.

He lets out a chuckle as one of them lands on his microphone. "Well, it appears that earlier reports _may_ have been inconclusive." He picks up the toad by one of its back legs. As more toads fall, he corrects himself by yelling, " _Very_ inconclusive! _Run!"_ He runs out of frame, holding his arms above his head while the camera remains focused on the toads falling from the sky.

"Mission...accomplished." Jessica says as she closes the laptop.

For some reason, I find myself once again thinking about her problem. I know I shouldn't be getting so involved with it but I seem to be the _only_ one who's noticed that there's anything wrong. And I can't help feeling that it _definitely_ has something to do with her mom.

Maybe I'm reading into it too much but all the same, I think I'm going to keep a close eye on her. After all, I seem to be the only one who's noticed that there is a problem. And, as her best friend, I promised myself that I would never let her down and I'm not about to start now.

I guess after what she said to me, I feel even more determined to find the source of her pain so I can stop it from ever hurting her again. She shouldn't feel sorrow, not like that. Do I care too much? Maybe. But it's worth it. And I won't ever give up.

No matter what I've promised.

Lucas looks a little down. "Cheer up, dude!" I tell him. "At least Peter's back home where he belongs!"

"Yeah, I know," he sighs. "I guess I got a little too attached to him. I knew I wouldn't be able to keep him but it was nice to have met him."

Suddenly Jessica starts laughing for no reason at all. "President of the Terrified Toad Hop!" she exclaims, pointing at me.

Lucas and Nick, who had just returned from the shed, burst out laughing while I frown, knowing exactly why they find it so funny.

"I'll remember this, guys!" I warn them as they continue to laugh. Although thinking it over, I guess I can admit I looked rather funny. There's no way I'm telling them that!

* * *

 _AN: Well, thank you for your patience, guys! I know I should have had this up ages ago but life just seems to get in the way. I am pretty busy most of the time and when I do have free time, it's usually at night when I should be sleeping._

 _I have been considering taking a brief hiatus from ROTLON, about two weeks maximum. This is just to give myself time to recharge as writing a lot of chapters takes a lot out of you and I have almost written twenty chapters of ROTLON._

 _I will, however, continue with Gormiti Love version 2 and will aim to get the next two oneshots written._

 _Once again, I thank you all again for bearing with me and I hope you enjoyed this chapter and continue to enjoy the rest of the series._

 _See you next time!_


	18. Chapter 17 - Lords of Fate

_AN: Hello, and welcome back to ROTLON! I hope you guys were okay with the break and...well, enough talking - let's just get on with the fic!_

* * *

I am sitting on one of the lounge chairs in the garden, having decided to enjoy a bit of relaxation in the sun after getting home from school.

Suddenly I feel a tap on my shoulder and I look up only to scream as I see Lucas standing in front of me, a spade in one of his hands. "Dude, seriously, don't do that!" I exclaim. "I nearly had a heart attack!"

"Sorry," he says. "But come on, get your spade - we've gotta get going!"

I'm confused. "Going? Going where?" I ask him.

He rolls his eyes at me. "Don't tell me you've forgotten! Today is the day I arranged for volunteers to plant saplings in the forest and you agreed to help out too, you know!"

I rack my brain as I try to recall the conversation before saying, "Oh yeah, I did, didn't I?" I walk over to the shed and open the door, looking for a spade. When I find it, I close the door and we start to walk alongside one another towards the forest.

As we walk, Lucas starts to rant about plants and trees and stuff. I inwardly sigh. This is going to be a long walk.

"Dude, what's the rush?" I exclaim as we reach the forest path.

Lucas looks at me as if I've grown an extra head. "Only the dwindling forest!" he says. "In Grand Valley National Park alone, thousands of-"

"Okay, okay!" I say, holding my hand up to stop him before he really starts ranting. " I already said I'd help plant trees, didn't I?"

Lucas grins. "This is gonna be awesome!" he tells me. "I sent out hundreds of invites and posted flyers everywhere!"

"I know!" I remind him. He had started posting them at the start of the week!

"I just hope we don't run out of saplings for all the volunteers! That would be embarrassing!" he says as we reach the clearing.

The only people there are...Nick and Jessica who, like us, are holding spades. So much for all the volunteers! "Though, of course, not as embarrassing as this!" I point out.

"Where is everybody?" Lucas asks, his expectations cruelly shattered.

"I know what you're thinking," Nick says as we walk over, "it's a less than stellar turnout! But no worries, we're here!" He turns and digs his spade into the ground which is apparently very hard. To our amusement, he tries repeatedly, even jumping onto the handle of the spade and bouncing up and down as though he thinks he's on a pogo stick.

"All my posters and invites..." Lucas laments. "I even texted until my fingers were numb!"

"Maybe they're allergic to trees!" Jessica suggests as we, too start digging, though with more success than Nick who still seems to think his spade is a pogo stick. "It can happen!"

I stop digging for a moment. "More like allergic to work!" I correct her. A thud and a cry sounds and I turn around to see Nick and his spade on the floor. I guess his pogo spade days are over.

"Don't they realize what's at stake?" Lucas asks. "This is the only planet we've got!"

"Actually," Nick says as he gets up and dusts himself off, "it's only a matter of time before the colonisation of Mars." Lucas and I blink at him. Where does he get all this information from? He frowns. "Would it kill you guys to pick up a book once in a while?"

Lucas looks down and says sadly, "I'm just tired of trying to make people care!"

None of us seem to know what to say to this. Suddenly we gasp as we hear rustling in the bushes and then strange cries. "Volunteers!" Lucas exclaims happily, picking up a couple of saplings and running forwards.

What happens next is nothing short of hilarious. A man and woman burst out of the bushes and scream as they collide with Lucas, all three of them sitting rather dazed on the ground.

"Dude!" I exclaim. "Camera, anyone?"

"Sorry about that!" the man says as he helps the woman - probably his girlfriend - to her feet. "But you kids should really get out of here!"

"What's going on?" Nick asks, confused.

"We need to get help!" the man exclaims. "The river was all bl-lb-bl-lb-bl-lb-bl and then it started to ssssssshh which lead to this huge whooosh! And, before you knew it - boiling fish!" The woman nods as though to confirm that he is telling the truth.

I frown as I say, "I think I saw that movie!" As one, the three of us turn to Lucas who looks utterly traumatized. He recovers when the couple leaves and looks at us.

"I think we should go and see what's going on for ourselves!" he suggests. We nod in agreement and run in the direction the couple had come from. When we get to the river, the water is bubbling and steam is rising. "It's probably more fallout from all the environmental abuse!" Lucas exclaims. "And what do people do? Run away from the problem!"

What problem?"

We turn to see Razzle perched on a nearby rock. "Let me guess," Nick says. "Trouble in Gorm?"

Razzle folds his arms and replies rather huffily, "Can't a lizard just drop by to say hi?" At once, the four of us start greeting him and he quickly exclaims, "There's no time for hi's! There's trouble in Gorm!"

"And I'll just bet it has something to do with the boiling water in the river!" Lucas says. "Come on, guys. Let's hurry and get to the Primal Pad!"

At once we start running back the way we came. We run through the clearing where we met up and eventually come out of the forest onto the street. Turning right, we head down towards our house and, as soon as we reach the door, make a beeline for the pantry when we're inside.

Razzle jumps onto the control panel as soon as we've all arrived in the Primal Pad. He begins his explanation as the four of us gather in front of the screen. "It seems that an ocean-based Air Gormiti tribe is suffering from a devastating climate change!" The image on the screen shows one of the floating citadels surrounded by what looks like dark red smoke. Even the sky itself looks red. "Temperatures are spiking into unbearable highs making their citadel barely inhabitable!"

"No doubt that's what's behind the-" Nick says before doing an impression of the noises the guy we had met earlier had made, "in the Grand Valley Park river!"

I turn to Lucas and tell him, "Might want to upgrade 'global warming' on your planetary to 'global hotting'!"

"Whatever!" Lucas responds. "I'd rather go to Gorm where at least I'd make a difference!"

"That's what I like to hear!" Razzle says, nodding his head approvingly. "You need to find the cause of this heat and resolve it a.s.a.p! Lives are at stake!" Aren't lives always at stake when we have to go to Gorm?

The four of us run to stand around the Gorm Gate. "Elementals!" we cry out.

"Air!" Jessica begins.

"Water!" I yell.

"Forest!" Lucas shouts.

"Earth!" Nick finishes.

"Reveal to us the Keeper and give to them your chair!" we say together.

"And the Keeper is..." Razzle announces. To my surprise, I notice Nick walking past me. Gee, he's a bit eager, isn't he? We don't even who the Keeper is yet!

Finally the chair stops spinning to reveal a dark blue icon with the Water symbol on its back, "...Water!"

Nick stops in his tracks completely, looking rather like he was playing a game of statues. Razzle jumps down onto the edge of the Gorm Gate. "That's you, kid!" he says, pointing at me.

I turn to look at Nick who seems to have somewhat recovered. "Dude, me too!" I tell him before I start to walk away towards the control panel. "I totally thought it was gonna be you this time!"

As I jump into the chair, which raises so I am level with the control panel, I hear Nick let out a disappointed sigh. Hey, bro, I can't help that you didn't get chosen as the Keeper this time!

"Have fun storming the citadel!" I call out before manipulating the crystals in order to activate the Gorm Gate. I turn and watch as, one by one, the others jump into the portal, leaving me alone in the Primal Pad with only Razzle for company.

"And...touchdown!" I exclaim as they land. I open up the Travel Tome and announce, "Okay, guys. Travel Tome says you should be right on target!"

"Judging by the heat, I'd say the Travel Tome is right!" Jessica says as she, Nick and Lucas look around.

Suddenly I remember a can of soda I have in my pocket. I'll bet the others are dying for something to drink right now. I open it up, chuckling at the crack and fizz, before saying, "I feel your pain!" and taking a long sip.

I turn my attention back to the screen as I hear bird-like shrieks. The others have apparently noticed too as they gasp and look around to see three Air Gormiti in the sky above them.

"I don't suppose that's their _happy to see you_ look!" Jessica says nervously.

"Don't worry!" Nick responds. "There's nothing a little communication can't fix!" Okay, is he actually crazy? When has attempting to communicate with Gormiti who think _we're_ the bad guys ever gone well? This is not going to be good! He walks forward and waves at them. "Hi! We're-"

"Capture the intruders!" The huge bird-like Air Gormiti commands.

See! What did I tell you?

His two companions begin to dive down at a frightening speed. "Hit the rocks!" Lucas exclaims before they all run in separate directions. I start to focus on getting the orbs fully charged - it looks like they're gonna need it.

Lucas dives to the ground, narrowly avoiding one of them. Nick, on the other hand, is busy trying to outrun the other one. "Toby!" Jessica yells, looking panicked.

I glance back at the orbs. To my frustration, they're nowhere near fully charged. "Not even close!" I tell her, answering her unasked question.

Suddenly, to my horror, the Air Gormiti chasing Nick hits him in the back, causing him to fall off the citadel, screaming as he does so.

"I think I can...I think I can!" Jessica mutters before she jumps off the citadel and yells, "Power up!"

I stare in horror at the screen watching as she and Nick fall before glancing at the orbs. Seriously, how long do these things take to charge?

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" I yell. "You're not at full glow yet!"

Her expression morphs into one of horror. "What!?" she shrieks.

Razzle covers his eyes. "Maybe we should try it at half glow?" I suggest.

I alternate between keeping an eye on the screen and checking the screen. After a few moments, the orbs are _finally_ ready. It's about time!

"Okay, go!" I yell as I slide some crystals into their slots. "Power up now! _Now!"_

"Elemental powers flow," the three of them yell together. "Super Gormiti, go, go, go!"

By some stroke of luck, Jessica is the first to transform. As soon as she's transformed, she swoops down and grabs Nick by his hood. At least they're both safe now but, wait...uh oh... I whimper and close my eyes, not wanting to look at the screen.

I have a bad feeling I know what's going to happen. And sure enough, when I open my eyes, I see them both hurtling down to the ground, Nick having also transformed.

Razzle uncovers his eyes as onscreen the dust clears to reveal Nick and Jessica sprawled on the ground which had actually cracked from the impact.

Jessica pulls herself up to a kneeling position. "I _always_ forget!" she exclaims, rubbing her head. "You're as heavy as you look!" Nick stands up a couple of seconds after she does. At least they don't seem to have been hurt!

"It's all muscle! Oh yeah!" Nick brags, flexing his arms before turning serious as they focus their attention on the citadel. "I guess we solved the mystery of the climate change, huh?"

I look at the screen to see what he means and see that the citadel is floating in red smoke coming from a volcano directly below it. Well, that explains a lot...I think.

Meanwhile, on said citadel, Lucas is standing in place looking horrified as one of the Air Gormiti swoops towards him.

A glow surrounds him as he finally transforms too. "Sleep Spores!" he yells as he releases green powder from his mouth at the attacking Air Gormiti who lets out a cry before being hit and crashing to the ground.

Jessica and Nick arrive back on the citadel to rejoin Lucas. The second Air Gormiti flies towards them when suddenly, to everyone's surprise, the leader holds up his hand, shouting, "No! Wait!"

Nick holds out his hand and yells, "Rock Storm!" Several small and sharp rocks shoot out of his hand at the approaching Air Gormiti who swerves to avoid them.

Unluckily for him, Jessica flies up behind him, crying, "Wind Attack!" as she hits him with a blast of blue energy which he is unable to avoid.

The Air Gormiti crashes heavily to the ground joining his companion as they both stand up. Everyone glares at one another before the leader flies over, landing between them. "Hold the attack!" he commands. He then addresses the others in a calmer tone. "Welcome, Lords of Nature."

He and his two companions then get down on one knee, their heads bowed. "That's more like it!" Nick says, obviously relieved that they were no longer being seen as a threat.

Clearly bemused, Lucas hesitantly admits, "Okay, I'm comfortable now," before suggesting, "Maybe we should bow back or at least knight them?"

"Um," Jessica begins uncertainly. The three Air Gormiti look up. "R-Rise?"

Immediately the Air Gormiti get to their feet. I wonder if that would have worked if Nick or Lucas had tried it. Eh, probably not.

"We feared you would never arrive!" the bird-like Air Gormiti says.

" _You_ feared," his companion, an insect-like Gormiti points out. " _I_ had faith in the prophecy!"

"Yeah..." Lucas says awkwardly. "Don't know anything about a prophecy. We just heard you were in trouble."

"According to prophecy," the leader explains, "our citadel has aligned over an active volcano. It is a natural occurrence every three thousand years. But something is different this time."

The insect-like Gormiti takes over the explanation. "The strain on our environment is unbearable. Generations before us have prevailed but we may not!"

"Serious..." Jessica says before lamenting, "A super slushy brain freeze would actually be welcomed right now!"

"Worse," the leader continues. "The Lava Gormiti are taking advantage of our misfortune. In fact, we mistook you for their agents, here to hasten our demise." He bows. "My apologies."

"Hey, no worries!" Nick says, holding his hands up. "No harm, no foul! Now that we're all on the same page, we can-"

His sentence is cut off abruptly by a loud rumble as the citadel seems to lurch in mid-air. Everybody cries out as they wobble around, trying to keep their balance.

"The stones!" the leader cries out. With a bird-like screech, he flies over to a room along with his companions. The others rush over to join them and peer down a hole where several bird-shaped stones are being stored. They are all glowing green and I'm not sure if they're meant to do that.

"The Falcon Stones!" Nick exclaims. "The sulfur from the volcano is draining their power!"

"So not good! Without these babies, this citadel is going down...right into the volcano!" Jessica says.

"Yep, the volcano doing its thing on the citadel is what's causing the rift alright!" I confirm as I use the crystals to check for rift activity. "That's why the river's boiling up! And it's spreading like peanut butter on hot toast! Meaning chop chop while Earth's entire water supply is going down with the citadel!"

I take another drink from my soda can while Razzle points out, "Well, _up_ , actually! But I think they got the idea!"

"Time for these Lords to start a'leaping!" Nick declares.

"There's far too much at stake for play!" The leader disagrees, obviously misunderstanding what Nick meant. "I will show you." The others walk forward as he gestures to a piece of parchment on the wall behind him. "This document was only recently discovered. It prophecied a catastrophic alignment over the volcano but it also foretold of the Lords of Nature who would save us."

"Weird!" Jessica frowns. "Even we didn't know we were coming until this morning!"

"Are you catching this, Toby?" Lucas asks.

"Loud and clear!" I respond. "We'll get to translating it." I frown as I look at the parchment that has appeared onscreen. "Okay, I knew English was too much to hope for but _some_ sort of alphabet would have been nice!"

"This might take a while..." Razzle mutters.

I jump down from the chair and run over to the bookshelves. There should be a tome for different Gormiti runes and languages, right? "Hey, Razzle?" I ask. "Where do you think we should start?"

Razzle climbs up onto my shoulder and replies, "Well, the first thing to do is ascertain what language the prophecy is written in. That way, we know what tome we'll have to look for."

I look back at the screen but I have no clue what I'm supposed to do. The language this prophecy is written in makes no sense to me. Nick would be so much better at this than me.

"Hold on a moment, kid!" Razzle says before asking if we could go back over to the control panel. I oblige and the lizard leaps down, scrutinizing the document onscreen before muttering, "We could have a problem here!"

"What do you mean?" I ask him in confusion.

He gestures to the screen as he responds, "I mean the problem is that translating this prophecy isn't going to be easy! It appears it's been written in more than just the one language!"

"M-more than one?" I stutter and he nods. "We're going to be here all day!"

"Nonsense, kid!" Razzle disagrees. "All we have to do is work out which language occurs most frequently and work our way from there! It shouldn't be _too_ difficult!"

I grab the can of soda and head back over to the bookshelves while Razzle remains near the control panel in order to tell me what tomes to look for.

Climbing up the ladder, I scan the shelves as Razzle informs me what I should search for. I take another gulp of soda before setting the can down on the shelf. Hey, searching for tomes is thirsty work!

I listen to what is going on in Gorm. !Apparently the others are being taken by the Air Gormiti to be honoured at some kind of celebration. But, while Nick is excited at the prospect, Lucas and Jessica don't seem all that enthusiastic.

"Tobe, any way we can skip this thing without ruffling any feathers?" Jessica asks.

I open up a tome and look through the pages. "These dudes take tradition _way_ seriously!" I respond. "Like life and death seriously!" I then add as an afterthought, "On the plus side, maybe you'll play Pin the Tail on the Fire Dragon!"

"So, Toby," Lucas says, "um, you know, not that it _matters_ or anything but anyone call about the flyers?"

I am stretching to try and reach for the can of soda as he asks this, one foot on the ladder and the other on a shelf. However I end up overstretching myself and, though my efforts are successful, I let out a cry as I fall off the ladder while the entire contents of that shelf land on top of me.

"Toby?" Lucas questions and I remember I haven't actually answered him. Well, I hope he's prepared to be disappointed.

"Nope! Nobody! Nada! Zilch!" I say before managing to break free of the pile of tomes I was under. Then, to add insult to injury, the can falls and bounces off of my head. "Ow!" I cry out.

"I think he gets it!" Razzle tells me.

"Oh...right." I say sheepishly as I stand up and dust myself off.

Lucas groans. "Guess it's hopeless!" he complains.

"Yeah. Sorry, man!" I say before spotting the can on the floor and leaning down to pick it up. "Hey, Lucas!" I tell him. "It's _not_ hopeless! Now I _totally_ recycle!"

As I walk over to the chair, Nick and Jessica begin joking about how Lucas managed to make me do something responsible.

"I gotta think - one person making a difference is better than none, right?" I say to them.

Jessica catches on as she adds, "And four are better than one!" while putting her arms around Nick and Lucas.

I feel Razzle's unimpressed gaze on me as he calls, "Uh, hello?" I turn my head to look at him.

"Oh, sorry." I shrug before adding, "Four and a half are better than one!"

Razzle turns his head away in a huff. Not sure he agrees with the _half_ part! I decide to go back to trying to translate the prophecy.

After we find the right tome, we set to work. It's not easy, considering I don't understand Gormiti language to begin with. But, after a few trial and errors, we finally start to get somewhere.

I frown at the piece of paper in my hands. On it I had written what should be the translated version of the prophecy but...something about it doesn't _look_ right.

"Hey, Razzle!" I call and he scurries over to me, climbing up onto my shoulder. "Are you sure you translated that last part right?"

He peeks at the paper and lets out a startled cry. "That can't be right! That rune _is_ difficult to translate, though."

We both fall silent as we try to think of what the word or words could actually be. Then it hits me. "Lava!" I exclaim.

Razzle gasps. "Of course!" he cries before looking at me strangely and asking, "But how did you know it could translate to that, kid?"

"I didn't," I admit, "but if the prophecy is linked to the citadel aligning with the volcano, then we know who's gonna be involved, don't we?" Razzle nods his head, gulping. "Plus it makes more sense than what we had originally!"

"You know, kid, you're just full of surprises!" Razzle tells me and I grin at him.

"Well, better tell the others!" I say. I can't wait to see the looks on their faces when they see I actually worked it out. And when I say I, I mean Razzle and I. I project my image and exclaim, "Dudes, score! The prophecy was in a bunch of different languages but I _totally_ worked it out! Get this: ' _At the end, the Lords of Nature are handed over to the Lava Gormiti in exchange for peace!'"_

"Really..." Nick begins, rolling his eyes.

" _Fascinating!_ " Jessica finishes for him in a sarcastic fashion.

Well, geez, could they sound any more grateful? They're lucky I didn't give them the original translation of the prophecy! But what Lucas says next explains their lack of gratitude. "You might want to work on your timing there, Tobe!" he tells me, folding his arms.

What does he mean by that? I look around at their surroundings and gasp when I notice, for the first time, that the exit is blocked by rocky bars running vertically from top to bottom. Oh, _now_ I get it! "How'd we get in _here?"_ I ask nervously.

"The question is: how do we get out?" Lucas exclaims as I make my image disappear.

Meanwhile Jessica wanders over to the exit, examining it closely. "I might be able to break down the mechanics for the gates..." she says. " _Maybe_ figure out a way to reverse the axis of pressure..."

Evidently Nick has an idea of his own as he transforms one of his hands into a rocky drill and starts to drill into one of the walls.

"Nick!" Jessica cries out. "There could be booby-traps or... _structural instability!"_

Nick turns his head to look at her while his drill continues drilling. "Structural _what?"_ he asks. You mean, my little brother doesn't know something? Then again, I don't know what structural insta-whatever is either!

As a result of the drilling, rocks begin to crumble down from the ceiling and Nick lets out a small, "Oh," as he spots the spike-shaped rocks pointing downwards that break apart and fall towards them.

Immediately they all cry out and shield themselves: Nick with his arms, Lucas transforming his arm into a shield made of brown vines and Jessica using her wings.

More of the ceiling begins to cave in, leaving a huge hole. "The light!" Lucas exclaims. "Dig to the light!"

Nick does as he's told and eventually the hole is big enough for all three of them to escape.

"Hey!" Nick says happily once they're all out, raising his arms in triumph. "We're free, aren't we?"

" _Free?"_ The others look around as someone begins laughing mockingly. Eventually I see onscreen that the culprit is none other than Lavion with Bombos by his side. "You are _free_ indeed! Your destruction didn't cost me a thing!"

The others glare at them before Nick lets out a gasp. Upon looking around, they all realize that they are standing right on the edge of a cliff. And it's a really long way down into the waters below.

Lucas lets out a cry and Lavion, still laughing, says, "Go ahead. _Jump_."

Bombos joins in. "Yeah, do it!" he shouts.

"Jump!" His left mouth yells.

"Dare ya!" His right mouth cries.

Lavion apparently doesn't like _not_ being the centre of attention as he snaps, "What did I say about upstaging me? We talked about this!"

"Sorry!" Bombos says, quivering. "I got swept up in the moment!"

Jessica glances at Nick and Lucas, frowning. "I don't have enough glow left to carry us all!" she exclaims.

Nick nervously replies, "Yeah... Hey, here's an idea - let's come up with a Plan _B_ sometime!"

Everyone glances up at the citadel. "All we have to do is convince the Air Gormiti to help us! Strength in numbers, right?" Lucas says after a while.

But, before they can do anything, they notice that Bombos has his arm pointed towards them. "I'm focused now, Lavion!" he calls. "Got my eye on the prize-"

While Bombos is talking to Lavion, the others move away unseen from the edge of the cliff and away from _that_ danger.

Lavion eventually gets fed up of Bombos' rambling and yells, "Just open fire, will you?" Their faces morph into looks of confusion when Bombos goes to attack, only to realize he has no one to aim at.

Suddenly Jessica flies towards them from behind while Nick runs in from the other side. Bombos turns in Nick's direction and fires a blast out of his hollowed out right arm which Nick avoids by dropping to the ground and doing a forward roll. He then retaliates by shooting several sharp rocks out of his right hand.

Bombos manages to avoid the impact but overbalances, crashing to the ground. Then he notices Jessica flying overhead and fires another blast, causing her to cry out as she swerves to avoid being hit. He then fires out multiple blasts of fire from his arm while Jessica does her best to dodge them.

Meanwhile Lucas, who is hiding behind a rock, notices the Air Gormiti above him. "Hawk Silent!" he calls out. "We need your help! Together we can _all_ stop Lavion!"

"Our fate has been determined by the prophecy!" Hawk Silent disagrees. "Interfering now would only endanger our future!" Yeesh, I'm beginning to wonder if stubborness is a genetic trait for Air Gormiti. As in, they're all just born plain stubborn!

Lucas looks incredulous as he asks, "You really think Lavion can be trusted to give you peace?"

This apparently gives the Air Gormiti food for thought because, after engaging in a silent discussion, the bird-like one says, "The Lord of Nature is right!"

Hawk Silent apparently doesn't think so as he turns around. "I must do what is best for my people!" he tells Lucas. "We cannot risk our entire citadel!"

Before Lucas can do or say anything else to convince them, Hawk Silent flies away, his two companions following after a couple of moments. "Don't you know what's at stake here?" he calls after them, watching them leave, before muttering, "Seriously... I need to come up with a new line! This gets me nowhere!"

Just then, Lavion picks up a boulder in his claw arm and hurls at Lucas who lets out a cry as he turns around to see it speeding towards him. Luckily he reacts quickly, breaking the rock apart by transforming one of his arms into strong, brown vines and hitting them against it.

Bombos attacks next, firing a blast at Lucas who runs to avoid it before jumping down to the lower ledges, making a beeline for a large rock nearby.

Once he gets behind it, though, he is surprised to find Nick and Jessica there as well - the two of them having hidden there just a few moments earlier. "Oh, hey, how's it going?" he asks them.

"Put it this way - without the Air Gormiti helping us, it's like trying to get tickets to a Quicksand Ferret concert!" Jessica exclaims. For a moment, Nick and Lucas stare at her blankly and she stares back before clarifying. "Hopeless!"

"Totally!" Nick agrees. "Getting them to pitch in is harder than signing people up for Lucas' tree-planting crew!" He then seems to realize what he just said and how it might sound to Lucas and adds awkwardly, "Uh... I mean..."

"No, you're right!" Lucas exclaims, looking happy for some reason before turning to face the others. "And you were right before too! When you said that one person making a difference is better than none!"

Despite wanting to point out that _I_ was the one who said that, I join in as the four of us exclaim, "And four are better than one!"

I gasp as Razzle pokes me on the shoulder. "Hey!" he says indignantly.

"Four and a half!" I add, petting his head.

Lucas looks determined as he says, "So let's make a difference!"

Suddenly Lavion jumps down from above. He must have either spied them from up on the cliff or heard them talking. Either way, he's approaching the rock they're hidden behind and raising his claw arm before breaking it apart, only to find once more that there is no one there.

The others, having anticipated that Lavion and Bombos would find them if they stayed hiding in the same place, had moved out from behind the rock in order to battle once more.

"Bombos! Explain why this was _your_ fault!" Lavion yells before thick, brown vines - courtesy of Lucas - wrap around his ankle. Lucas gives his vines a mighty tug, sending Lavion flying.

Bombos notices Lucas as he retracts his vines and fires several blasts from his cannon-like arm. Lucas runs from them, avoiding each one.

"Wind Attack!" Jessica cries, releasing a funnel of wind from her hands and hitting Bombos from behind. Bombos turns in her direction and gives her what is apparently supposed to be an intimidating look, complete with an angry cry. Jessica, however, isn't intimidated in the slightest as she calls out: "Is that all you got, Bombos? Fire?" before laughing.

Bombos apparently doesn't like being taunted as he starts firing blast after blast of fire at Jessica who dodges them before flying towards Lavion. Unable to stop himself from firing in time, Bombos has a look of horror on his face as his blasts hit Lavion.

The impact from the attack sends him crashing into the cliff behind him. Once he gets down, he glares threateningly at Bombos. "We need to talk!" he seethes.

Suddenly Razzle taps me on the shoulder. "What is it, Razz?" I ask, a little disappointed that I have to miss Bombos being yelled at.

The little lizard frowns as he replies, "I want to take another look at that document, if you don't mind."

"But why?" I question, confused. "We already translated it! Are you hoping to find something else - maybe a footnote at the bottom saying that the Air Gormiti will help us after all?"

"I don't know!" he says. With that response, I wave my hands over the crystals and the image of what is happening in Gorm is replaced with an image of the document. Razzle peers at it for several moments before finally muttering, "Hmmm, that's peculiar!"

I look at him blankly and he explains. "This prophecy was written in ancient Glockonian, right? But the parchment itself is Lordinadian!"

I still don't get it. "English, please?"

"This kind of paper didn't exist when this prophecy was _supposedly_ written!" Razzle tells me.

Oh... _Now_ I get it! "It's a fake!" we exclaim together.

I quickly project my image beside the others. "Guys, the prophecy's a fake!" I tell them excitedly.

They stare at me, puzzled, Nick saying, "Come again?"

"It's fake!" Lucas cries.

Jessica flies off into the air. Her glow signature indicates that she is heading towards the citadel. Meanwhile Nick and Lucas approach Lavion and Bombos.

"You should never fool, spindle or mutilate your master under _any_ circumstance-" Lavion appears to still be yelling at Bombos, his claw around the latter's neck.

Lucas steps forward, getting their attention. "He's right, Bombos!" he says, much to my surprise. "It's become clear that Lavion must be revered!"

Bombos lets out a cry as Lavion releases him. "Go on..." the vain Lava Gormiti says interestedly.

Okay, is this _Praise the Bad Guys_ day and I'm the only one who didn't get a memo? I don't see how swelling Lavion's already swollen ego is going to help. Suddenly the crystals indicate the presence of four Gormiti in the area - all of them Air Gormiti.

What their plan must be is now clear to me. Jessica had gone to get the Air Gormiti so they could hear for themselves the confession from Lavion that Nick and Lucas are going to trick him into giving. It would only be then that they'd agree to help out.

"We knew you were _awesome!"_ Nick tells him. "But forging such a believable document is beyond _amazing!"_

"Oh, you noticed?" Lavion says, looking and sounding surprised. "Yes, knowing the citadel was going to align with the volcano gave me the perfect opportunity to eliminate you, Lords of Nature, with some _brilliant_ artistic handiwork!"

"What did I tell you?" Jessica says to the Air Gormiti, none of them looking too happy.

Lavion continues. "Not only am I handsome and powerful, I also fake a mean prophecy!"

"I bet you can create one for what's about to happen next!" Lucas challenges him.

"I bet you're right!" Lavion exclaims. He continues talking as Bombos brings him some parchment. "It was so easy to fool the Air Gormiti into betraying their allies!" He writes something on the parchment. " _This_ time I'll cut out the middle man and prophecise that they should destroy themselves!" He turns to Bombos. "Bombos! Authenticate this!"

All three of Bombos' mouths shoot fire at the parchment, leaving it with holes and burn marks. Lavion laughs menacingly, raising the parchment in the air with his claw arm.

"Let us create a little prophecy of our own!" Hawk Silent declares. The insectoid and bird-like Air Gormiti fly down, much to the surprise of Lavion and Bombos.

Bombos fires a blast from his cannon arm which hits the first Air Gormiti and sends him crashing into the second.

Hawk Silent hovers overhead for a few moments before swooping down and knocking the two Lava Gormiti over like bowling pins.

"Enough already!" Lavion yells before turning to Bombos. "Bombos, bring the citadel down... _now!"_ He emphasises his last word by punching the ground with his fist.

Bombos obediently scrambles to his feet and runs, while crying out, towards the edge. He fires a blast at the space between Nick and Lucas who run off in either direction. Reaching the edge, he fires another blast directly into the lava.

Immediately the ground above it starts to break apart. Chunks of rock crumble into the waters below. The citadel, to everyone's horror, starts to fall even further while the cloud of red smoke surrounding it grows even thicker.

Lavion, busy laughing at the destruction he is no doubt causing, almost fails to notice that Lucas has dug his creepers into the ground before it's too late. Unfortunately he spots them just in time, grabbing them in his hand as they rise above the surface. "Really...again?" he says disdainfully. "How foolish do you think I am?"

One tug on the vines is all it takes to bring Lucas tumbling down from the ledge he had been perched on. He crashes heavily to the ground and lays there for a few moments. Lavion lets go of the vines and laughs again while Lucas gets to his feet.

"Now say goodbye!" he demands after jumping high into the air.

Lucas smirks. "Goodbye!" he calls before yelling, "Jungle Attack!" He transforms both of his arms into strong, brown vines and stretches them up into the air. They are grabbed by Jessica and one of the Air Gormiti who pull him up into the air just as Lavion slams into where he had been standing with his claw arm, causing the rock to break apart slightly.

Nick, standing on another ledge, leaps down, his heavy weight finishing the job and causing Lavion to wobble around for a few moments before he regains his balance.

His job done, Nick stands up and yells, "Taxi!" He starts running and jumps into the air, Hawk Silent and the other Air Gormiti grabbing his arms and flying him to safety.

As the rock breaks apart, Lavion and Bombos cry out as they fall. Razzle suddenly lets out a happy cry as the red smoke around the citadel starts to fade away.

"Well, now that the citadel's not being barbecued any more, those falcon stones will finally be able to do their job!" I say cheerfully as we watch the falcon stones reactivate onscreen, their power no longer being drained.

While everyone steps onto the elevator, the citadel starts to rise until it is back in the sky where it belongs. The Air Gormiti check on the falcon stones to make sure everything is in working order before gesturing for the others to follow them inside. The room they are in is the same room the prophecy was in.

"We deeply regret putting you in danger!" Hawk Silent says. "Without you, we would have perished!" He bows slightly before continuing. "In your honor, we have created a statue so we shall never forget!" Upon saying this, he moves aside to reveal a statue of Jessica. When did they make that? And where are Nick and Lucas? I guess they ran out of rock or something. "Lord of Air, we thank you for all that you have done for us!" All three of them bow their heads in respect.

"Awesome!" Jessica cries, admiring the statue before frowning slightly and asking, "Do you think you could make the hair a little more-"

Nick and Lucas gasp while she asks this and the Air Gormiti look up, stunned. "Nah, never mind!" she finishes sheepishly.

I decide that now might be a good time to gate them back home. After that whole debacle with Lavion and Bombos, their orbs are almost empty.

"Guys, you ready to come back home?" I ask as I project my image beside them. Then I add teasingly, "Unless Jessica's not done admiring herself yet!"

Nick and Lucas roar with laughter at this. Jessica, meanwhile, smirks and says calmly, "If you weren't a holographic image right now, I'd have you on the receiving end of my feather attack!"

I can practically feel the color draining out of my skin as I recall that Jessica's feathers are as sharp and deadly as knives. I squeak fearfully, "I'm sorry - I didn't mean anything by it! Please don't hurt me!" It comes out all in a jumble of words and I'm pretty sure it sounds less like English and more like some undiscovered language.

This time, all three of them start laughing. Eventually Nick calms down enough to say, "Yeah, you can gate us back now, bro!"

I wave my hands over the crystals, creating a portal that brings them back to the Primal Pad.

"You know if I'd been here, I'd have translated the prophecy a lot faster!" Nick tells me as he and the others run over. I lower the chair down and jump down onto the ground.

"Yeah, yeah." I say lightly. "You guys ought to consider yourselves lucky I didn't give the prophecy as we'd originally translated it!"

"Which was?" Lucas questions curiously, Nick and Jessica also looking interested.

I clear my throat. "It was: at the end, the Lords of Nature will be handed over to the _ducks_ in exchange for peace!"

There was an awkward moment of silence before all four of us started to laugh. "The ducks!" Jessica cried out. "Does it mean real ones or rubber ones?" This causes us to laugh even harder.

I'm not sure what mental image the others are picturing but, right now, I'm imagining a house-sized rubber duck commanding its army of normal-sized rubber duck underlings. Yeah, it's a weird image...

As we head up the stairs, still laughing, I notice Lucas looking like he's trying to remember something. Once we get into the kitchen, he suddenly speaks.

"Hey, guys, I know you probably have other things planned for tomorrow but I was wondering if you'd come to the fored with me and help plant the saplings we meant to plant today."

I exchange glances with Nick and Jessica and I know they're thinking the same thing as me. Even though the four of us are as different as can be, there is one thing we _all_ agree on - friends have each other's backs no matter what.

"Of course we will!" we say together, grinning at him. He grins too, looking positively overjoyed.

"Thanks, guys!" he says. "This is gonna be great!"

Well, I guess completing that video game I got last weekend is going to have to wait!

* * *

The next day, as planned, the four of us meet up in the forest, armed with spades and ready to plant some saplings.

While the others have their backs turned, I make a _tiny_ adjustment to one of the ropes set up around a patch of soil for the saplings to be planted in before turning and joining the others in digging.

"Maybe we're taking this whole ' _one person can make a difference'_ thing too far!" I say after a while as I use my foot to push my spade into the ground. I wipe my forehead with one hand. It feels like we've been doing this for _hours._

"Every sapling helps!" Lucas points out happily.

Just then, we hear voices and gasp as we turn to see a crowd of people carrying spades. What's going on?

We all stand, confused, while Lucas' face lights up as though it's his birthday or something.

"The flyers have _today's_ date on them!" Jessica exclaims, pulling one out of her pocket. "Not yesterday's!"

Lucas sounds shocked as he says, "I don't believe it!" He then turns to me and asks, "Toby, is this one of your practical jokes?"

That would actually have been a pretty funny joke, to be fair. But I hadn't made it. "No," I tell him honestly. For once, the date mix-up wasn't my fault.

Lucas starts racing towards the crowd of people, only to get tripped up by one of the ropes. He cries out as he lands on the ground in front of them. "But _that_ is!" I declare as I start laughing, along with Nick and Jessica.

As we walk over to help out with the saplings, I can't help but think that I may never understand Lucas' plant obsession but one thing I do understand is how good it is to help out a friend.

Even if it's by planting saplings!

* * *

 _AN: I am so, so sorry, guys! I know I have taken way too long to get this chapter written but, like I've said, I have a very busy life and I don't always have as much time to write as I'd like! Therefore I'd like to thank you all for your patience._

 _I hope you enjoyed the chapter - apologies if it sucked - and I'll see you next time!_


	19. Chapter 18 - Sting of Insecticus

_AN: Hello and welcome back to ROTLON! I really do hope you guys are enjoying reading this so far and I'd just like to apologize once again for how long it takes to get these chapters written and uploaded._

 _But without further ado, let the chapter...begin! (If you live in the UK, you'll get this reference)_

* * *

"Not again!" I groan as Nick beats me at our new video game. _Again._ "How about best of five?"

"Sure," he agrees, shrugging. "Though you know I'm going to beat you every time, right?"

"Fat chance!" I grin as I use the controller to return to the main menu of the game. Just as I'm about to select the Continue option, Mom and Dad walk in, carrying several empty cardboard boxes.

"Ah, there you are, boys!" Mom says, walking over and placing a box each in front of us. "There's no time for video games - today we're clearing out the garage for a yard sale!"

Before either of us can say anything, Dad says, "And the two of you will be helping out too!"

Nick and I look at each other and shrug. I guess our video game would have to be put on hold for now. We pick up our boxes which I notice have "SALE" written on with black pen.

We follow Mom and Dad to the garage and place our boxes down on the ground. A lot of the stuff in here brings back memories, old toys and things like that. "Alright, the boxes are labelled keep and sale!" Mom tells us. "Anything you want to keep, you put it in the keep box. Anything you don't want anymore, you put in the sale box, okay."

"But don't just put everything in the keep box!" Dad says, looking at me in particular. "We need to have things to actually sell."

With that, we begin rifling through a huge box of items we haven't seen or used for years. Nick and I begin tossing things in our boxes. Surprisingly we have a pretty even amount of items in both boxes.

Suddenly Dad lets out a gasp. "Hey, would you look at that? I bet we can fetch a pretty penny for these!"

Nick and I walk over to see what he's talking about and we see our old Captain Gecko action figure collection. I gasp. "Whoa, Dad, not Captain Gecko!" I exclaim, putting my hands on my head.

"You can't sell that!" Nick agrees, taking one of the figures dressed as a soldier out of Dad's hands while I take the other soldier and cowboy figures.

"Really?" Mom asks, raising an eyebrow at us.

I back away, clutching the figures to my chest. "Really, _truly,_ really!" I insist. "No, _really!"_

"Tell you what," Mom suggests. "If you boys help with the sale, you can keep your toys!" I bite down my indignant gasp - I can't believe Mom just called our action figures _toys!_

Apparently Nick can't either as he whines, _"Mom!_ They're not toys - they're priceless action figures!"

Mom smiles as she says, "Of course! And if you don't help out, we get to sell them! Deal?"

Nick and I nod our heads in agreement. We don't seem to have any other choice and we are not losing Captain Gecko. So I guess our morning is going to be spent sorting through all this stuff. This could take _hours!_

"Well, we've got to make a start on lunch so we'll leave you to it!" Dad says as he and Mom walk back into the house.

We begin sorting through the old items. It's boring but the thought of losing Captain Gecko motivates us to work harder. After a while, I sigh. "There's no way we can get this done ourselves! What do you say we get some help?"

Nick nods in agreement so I pull out my phone and send a text to Lucas and Jessica. It shouldn't take them too long to get here.

Sure enough, about ten minutes later, we hear panting and running footsteps as our friends appear in the entrance to the garage.

"What's the big emergency?" Lucas asks, gasping for breath.

"Yeah," Jessica adds. "I canceled a judo lesson! Is there trouble in Gorm?"

I hold out one of the Captain Gecko figurines and tell them, "Our parents were totally gonna sell our mint-condition series one Captain Gecko - complete with discontinued solar glider!" I push a button on the back of the figure and plastic wings fold out. I make a _shooming_ noise as I run around with the figure, making it appear to be gliding.

As I run, the figure says Captain Gecko's catchphrase: _"Time to get cold-blooded!"_

I come to a stop. "We can't abandon our little hero!" I say mournfully.

Jessica rolls her eyes, throwing her arms up in the air. " _Right..._ " she says. "And when was the last time Captain Gecko saved the day? When you were six?"

I blink, unable to come up with a response because it really has been that long. I barely notice Lucas taking the figure out of my hand to examine it.

"Solar glider - awesome!" he exclaims. "Environmentally-conscious toys!"

"Don't ruin it, dude!" I complain as he runs around, making the same noise I had.

 _"What's up, guys?"_

The familiar voice causes us all to scream and, in surprise, Lucas accidentally loses his grip on Captain Gecko! The two of us cry out as the figure sails into the air, only to descend back to Earth. We dive for it to catch it before it hits the ground and luckily Lucas manages it. _"Time to get cold-blooded!"_ the figure says.

Nick lets out a sigh of relief. "This definitely goes in the _keep_ pile!" he says wearily.

Razzle pops his head out of a box filled with our old toys. "I don't know if I mentioned but there's trouble in Gorm!" he tells us.

"No worries!" I say, standing up. "If we hurry, we can get back in time to finish up!"

"But, uh, how are we gonna get past Dad?" Nick asks as we approach the house. "He said he was gonna be making sandwiches and you know that once Dad's in the kitchen, it's near enough impossible to get him out again!"

"I may just have a plan!" Jessica says before whispering it to us. We allow ourselves a small laughing fit due to how genius it is. As we reach the doorway to the kitchen, we poke our heads around it, watching as Dad busies himself with sandwich-making. Jessica turns her head and winks at us before stepping forward while the three of us remain out of sight. "Oh, hi, Mr. Tripp!" she says cheerfully.

Meanwhile I sneak around the other side of the kitchen, making sure to stay light on my feet. I reach the pantry and quietly open the door as Dad responds, "Hi, Jessica!"

"Nice shirt, Dad!" Nick tells him as he walks up to him, allowing Jessica to run into the pantry unnoticed.

"Bet anchovies would be good on that sandwich!" Lucas suggests as Nick joins us.

"Ooh, anchovies!" Dad exclaims as Lucas runs into the pantry, closing the doors behind him. We have to stifle our laughter as we hear him ask if anyone else wants a sandwich, only for Mom to reply that she'd love one, thanks.

After we gain access to the Primal Pad, we run down the steps and stand in front of the control panel. An image appears on the screen of a familiar Sea Gormiti battling against a troop of Lava soldiers. "Apparently our friend Quarry was chasing off some Fire Gormiti when he disappeared!" Razzle informs us. "His entire Water Gormiti tribe fears for his safety!"

"With good reason!" Jessica murmurs. "We know how the flame-heads like to wreak havoc!"

"I've heard the sea levels are rising in Venture Falls! I'll bet the two are connected somehow!" Lucas suggests.

"Let's get this search-and-rescue underway, shall we?" Razzle says and the four of us run to stand around the Gorm Gate.

"Elementals!" we shout.

"Earth!" Nick begins.

"Water!" I yell.

"Forest!" Lucas calls.

"Air!" Jessica finishes.

"Reveal to us the Keeper and give to them your chair!" we chant as the chair begins to spin around.

"And the Keeper is..." Razzle announces as the chair slows to a stop, revealing an orange icon with the Earth symbol on the back, "...Earth!"

"Knew it!" Nick exclaims happily as he does some kind of celebratory dance before running towards the control panel.

"Remember - Captain Gecko is counting on you!" I remind him as he runs past me.

He jumps into the chair which brings him level with the control panel before opening the Travel Tome, checking its pages, and manipulating the crystals on the panel to activate the Gorm Gate. "Pedal to the metal!" he exclaims as the three of us jump in, cheering as we do so.

"And...touchdown!" Nick says as we land somewhere in the Lava Nation. "Let's get your powers to full glow!" He then adds, "Okay, Travel Tome says you should be in Lava territory!"

We look around and spot a huge figure nearby. Whoever it is, it doesn't seem like they're moving to greet _or_ attack us. But it does look _awfully_ familiar.

"Uh, correct me if I'm wrong, but that looks like Quarry right there!" Jessica says to us. I can definitely see the resemblance. It really _does_ look like Quarry so why isn't he approaching us?

"Hmm, that's weird! I'm not picking him up over here!" Nick says. "You're good to glow!" he confirms a couple of seconds later and adds a warning of, "But be careful out there!"

"Elemental powers flow, Lords of Nature, go, go, go!" we chant.

"Powers of the Sea!" I yell as I undergo the transformation from human to Super Gormiti.

As soon as we've all transformed, we move towards the Quarry-like figure, only for its head to fall off!? It's just a statue which means...

"It's a trap!"

"Guys," Nick says nervously as he projects his image near us. "I'm reading a power signature with you but it looks too hot to be Water Gormiti!"

"Lava Gormiti!" Razzle gasps.

"Ouch!" Jessica exclaims. I turn to see her holding her arm out in front of her. "I just got stung!"

A second later, there is a bright flash of light and Jessica... completely disappears! Lucas and I rush over to where she had been standing and yell out her name.

"Nick!" I exclaim as Lucas and I look around. "Jessica just _disappeared!"_

To my surprise, as he projects his image near us, he responds, "No, she's there! I can detect her glow signature but it's _really_ faint - almost non-existent!"

I hope that doesn't mean...no, she's fine, right? Lucas and I begin calling out for her. She has to be around here somewhere!

As I'm trying to shout to her, an insect of some kind starts zooming around my head. I swat at the air with my hand. "Get away!" I say irritatedly. Can't it see I'm trying to find Jessica? "Stupid bug!" Eventually it gives up and flies away. Thank the orbs for that!

I glance at Razzle and shrug before Lucas suddenly exclaims, "Toby, it's Jess!" I let out a gasp as I run over to him. Sure enough, hovering at eye-level, is Jessica...except she's _tiny!_

"I was hit by a spell from an ugly fire-bug thing!" she explains in a tiny and squeaky voice that we have to strain to hear. "Then - _poof!_ \- I'm shopping in the petite section!" Suddenly she lets out a cry as something smacks into her from behind, knocking her to the ground.

"Who are you calling ugly?" An insect-like Lava Gormiti snaps angrily.

"Insecticus!" Razzle exclaims worriedly. Insecticus? Well, I guess the name fits.

I fire a water globe at the bug-sized Lava Gormiti but he easily swerves around it. Unfortunately this means the globe hits Lucas instead...sorry, Lucas! "Uh, my bad!" I say apologetically.

Out of nowhere, Razzle sticks out his tongue. Well, he is a lizard and lizards do eat insects so he should have the advantage! Insecticus, however, grabs hold of it and sends Razzle flying with a pained cry so...maybe not!

"Don't embarrass yourself, lizard!" he snaps. "You don't belong in this battle!" He swoops up into the air before diving down.

"There he is!" I exclaim.

"I see him!" Lucas shouts.

We both start charging towards him and, at the last possible second, Insecticus flies upwards. Unable to stop, Lucas and I crash directly into each other, crying out as we roll onto the ground.

I rub my head as I sit up. "Who would've thought it'd be so tough to fight a bug-sized enemy with a super-sized body?" I ask rhetorically.

"Let me make it easier on you!" Insecticus exclaims, swooping down towards me.

"Ow!" I yell as I feel a sharp pain in my head. The next thing, I know, the world around suddenly looks a _lot_ bigger than it was about two seconds earlier!

"Toby?" Lucas calls out. I watch as he stretches out his vines, yelling out, "Jungle Attack!" Insecticus, however, fires some flaming black dart-like things out of his hand. When they make contact with the vines, Lucas is surrounded by the same light as he gets shrunk down to the same size.

I run over to him as Jessica also rejoins us. "Nick, you've _got_ to gate us back right now!" she exclaims.

"Yeah, we got a little problem there!" Nick says, projecting his image - which now looks massive, by the way - near us. "Rift travel works through mass equilization, meaning only the identical volumetric mass can return once it's been gated out!"

"Mass equili - what?" I ask, not understanding a word of what Nick just said.

Jessica groans. "Could this _get_ any worse?"

"Actually, yes!" Nick responds, almost cheerfully. "Your powers are equally diminished!"

"Well, don't break it to us gently!" I say through gritted teeth. Suddenly a shadow looms over us and I let out a cry as Insecticus swoops down.

"That was almost too easy!" he boasts, flying towards us.

Now that we're teeny-tiny, there really doesn't seem to be much we can do. We're helpless right now. But Razzle seems to have taken a level in courage or something because he steps forward, saying determinedly, "We'll see about that!" The moment gets ruined, though, when Insecticus grabs us and he lets out a fearful scream.

Immediately I begin to struggle in the Lava Gormiti's grip, feeling the others attempting to do the same. His grip tightens and I soon find it hard to breathe. Is it just me or is everything going blurry? All I can hear is laughing but I don't see what the joke is.

I wake up and groan, clutching my head. Judging from our surroundings, we're not where we started. As I try to get my bearings, Jessica exclaims, "Quarry!"

Sure enough, Quarry is also in this - what I have just realised is some kind of dome cage - prison. He looks at us with regret in his eyes, having also been shrunk down. "Lords of Nature, I regret that you were lured here by my capture!" he says ruefully.

"No worries! It's what we do!" I tell him as I stand up. Wait a minute...that's not right... "I mean not get captured - _that's_ not what we do! Although if you think about it..." I realize that I am starting to ramble - I always ramble when in stressful situations because it's distracting.

"I am at your disposal!" Quarry says to us earnestly. "Any assistance I can give, I will!"

 _"Isn't that generous?"_ A familiar laughter fills the air and we look up to see none other than Magmion peering at us through the dome case. "Well done, Insecticus!" he congratulates his fellow Gormiti who, in a flash of light, returns to a normal size.

"It was worth the effort just to see you wack that silly lizard halfway across Lava territory!" Insecticus brags, also peering at us. The two of them start laughing again. Jerks. I find myself wondering if Razzle is alright.

Jessica looks worried. "Poor Razzle!" she exclaims. "I hope he's okay!"

"Are you kidding me?" Lucas says, not sounding too concerned. "Razzle's as tough as they come!" Well, that's debatable.

Magmion continues laughing. "Not very threatening _now_ , are you?" he says almost gleefully. "You see, with Insecticus, I can shrink and capture the leaders of _every_ Gormiti territory! Then not only will I have all my enemies to keep as trophies, I'll also be able to spread my liquid fire across Gorm without anyone to _stand in my way!"_ He finishes his monologue with _more_ evil laughter.

Without warning, he lifts the lid off the case and puts his hand inside. Before I have a chance to react, I feel him picking me up. "Hey!" I cry out. "Hands off!" He lifts me out of the case and begins to swing his arm around. I've never suffered from motion sickness before but there's always a first time for everything as I start to feel a little woozy.

In desperation, I transform my right hand into a claw and pinch Magmion. He lets out a pained cry and loosens his grip, sending me flying. "Toby!" Lucas and Jessica yell. I hit a rock wall and slide to the floor, slightly stunned, before noticing that I am right next to some steps leading up and out of the cavern. If I can get out, I can go and get help.

I start running up the steps which, considering my size, is exhausting work as they are quite large and I can't cover as much distance in as much time as I could if I were my normal size. I've barely reached the fourth step - or was it the fifth? - when Magmion walks over, laughing mockingly at me. He blocks my path with his foot before scooping me back up again, causing me to cry out.

"Enough playing!" he snaps. "I've got a world to conquer!" He unceremoniously drops me back inside the case before covering it with the lid and leaving with Insecticus who returns to insect-size.

Lucas holds his hand out, perhaps to help me up. "I'm fine," I insist, a little breathlessly as I get to my feet.

"I don't get it!" he exclaims. "What does shrinking Gormiti have to do with rising ocean levels?"

Nick projects his image above us. "Glad you asked!" he says. "With reports of entire coastal regions vanishing across the globe, I did a little analysis of my own! The ocean levels aren't rising - the land is shrinking!"

I think for a moment before guessing, "So the more adversaries Magmion shrinks, the smaller the continents become!"

"If we don't stop him soon, the whole planet will be submerged!" Lucas adds.

Nick grins suddenly. "Before we break out our scuba gear, I do have a bit of good news!" he tells us. "It seems Insecticus' miniaturization spell is tied to geography. If you can escape the Lava territory, the effects of the spell will wear off!"

Well, that can't be too hard! "Rocking!" I exclaim happily. "What is it, like a mile to the border? Easy peasy!"

" _Not_ when we're the size of action figures!" Jessica points out.

Wait a minute...action figures?

"Bro!" I address Nick as I remember Captain Gecko. "Our action figures! You gotta stall Mom and Dad!"

"Uh, yeah, priorities..." Nick says nervously.

"Dude, yeah, _priorities!"_ I retort.

"Now's not the time, Toby!" Nick tells me firmly.

My voice starts to get higher as I start to panic at the thought of losing our childhood hero. "It'll be too late if you wait!" I protest. "Think about it - Captain Gecko... _gone! Is that what you want!?"_

Nick shakes his head, looking slightly alarmed, before groaning and holding up his hand. "Okay, okay, give me a second!" he says before his image disappears from view.

"Well, while Nick plays _'Rescue the Action Figures',_ we should try and find a way out of here!" Lucas suggests. As one, we all glance up at the top of the case.

"This one's a job for me!" Jessica says, pointing a finger to herself, before flying up and beginning to push against the lid with her hands. Unfortunately she soon begins to struggle with the difference in size between her and the lid. "Nick wasn't kidding!" she gasps, still attempting to push the lid off. "My powers aren't what they used to be!"

Lucas stretches out his vines, helping to push against the lid. With a lot of exertion, the lid is finally pushed aside, revealing the outside world once more.

Jessica flies back down, grabbing hold of Lucas and I before putting us down on the ground away from the case. Quarry has somehow managed to reach the top of the case on his own and stands on the rim.

Just as we think we're safe, Insecticus flies through the mouth of the cave and spots us. "Halt! Escapees!" he shouts. He starts to fly towards us when Quarry leaps off the case, tackling him to the ground, causing us to gasp.

"Go!" he insists as he holds Insecticus down. "You must return to your normal size so you can stop Magmion!"

I hate the thought of leaving him behind like this. And, as I look at Jessica for a moment, the frown on her face tells me she feels the same. "We'll be back for you!" Lucas tells him. "I promise!"

With that, we start heading towards the stairs. Jessica flies up while Lucas and I pull ourselves up using the jagged rocks hanging down from the roof. In no time at all, we reach the top and start running around the upper level, searching for an exit.

It doesn't take us long before all three of us are panting with exhaustion but we can see the exit just up ahead. When we reach it, however, we are forced to come to a stop as the path ends, a huge flow of lava beneath us. And it's a long way down.

"Okay, that totally puts a crimp in our escape!" Jessica complains, deciding to state the obvious. For a moment, I want to remind her that she could easily just fly us all to safety but I remember what Nick said about our powers being as tiny as we are and hold my tongue.

Laughter fills the air and we spin around as Magmion starts to approach us, judging from the shadow we can see creeping around on the wall. "Who's up for a little summertime blues?" Lucas asks as he casually fires a bark-like fist at a ledge. "Blast of Bark!"

The impact causes part of the ledge to break off and fall onto the lava. "Let's do this!" he yells. Seeing our chance, Lucas and I leap onto the makeshift surfboard while Jessica flies above our heads. Guess it's time to go lava surfing!

We sail down the flow of lava, cheering happily. It might be a thousand times more dangerous than normal surfing but, hey, it's fun!

Eventually we start to reach a point where there is a wall in our path. And this thing didn't come equipped with brakes! "Hang on!" Lucas yells as he grabs me with one arm, transforms his other arm into a vine, and uses it to pull us both to safety. Just in the nick of time too, as our makeshift surfboard crashes into the wall and shatters.

"So, uh, which way do we go now?" I ask. Being this small is so disorienting, I don't remember which way is the way _out_ of Lava territory!

"I'll use that ledge to get a better view!" Jessica says, flying up to the bigger ledge in front of us and running up to the edge of it. Meanwhile Lucas and I carefully climb our way up, knowing that one false move meant that we would be done for As we join her, she groans, glancing out at the ocean of lava which seems huge to us. "If I hadn't burnt so much orb to escape our display case, I might have been able to fly all of us across!"

I move up alongside her. "So if things were different, things might have been...different?" I ask before turning to face the sea of lava. "Thanks. That's helpful."

 _"Time to get cold-blooded!"_

Wait... is it? I turn around along with the others and see none other than Captain Gecko standing in all his twelve inch high glory. I cannot stop myself from grinning as I exclaim, "Dude, brilliant!" Nick really has the _best_ ideas... well, sometimes.

We walk over to the figure and Jessica flies up to it, pushing the red button on its back that activates the glider feature. "I have a whole new admiration for action figures!" she says admiringly.

"All we have to do is catch a draft of hot lava air and then ride out on the current!" I say to the others. The three of us climb onto Captain Gecko, holding on tightly before moving to the edge of the ledge and waiting.

A few moments later, there is a huge blast followed by a large plume of hot lava air. With no time to lose, we push ourselves off, the hot air keeping us airborne. I'm pretty sure I can hear Magmion yelling angrily in the background, too, but that won't matter much once we're finally out of Lava territory.

We glide across the lava flow and end up heading towards a canyon - a canyon with some kind of...cattle? I didn't know Gorm had these sorts of creatures! Not that it's important. What is important is making sure they don't _trample_ us!

As we head straight towards the stampeding herd, all three of us cry out fearfully. "Go left!" Jessica yells and we swoop in that direction, avoiding the creatures.

I notice a particularly big specimen in our path - probably the leader - and quickly shout, "Go right!" We swerve in the opposite direction this time and, after a few moments, we've finally broken free of the herd. No need to write my will just yet.

"Alright!" Lucas says happily once we're safely out of the herd's way. "Hard part over with!"

We continue to glide over Lava territory. Everything looks different when you're small. I mean I'm not the biggest fan of bugs but to, say, an ant, we must look like giants! Great, I'm comparing myself to an ant now!

Eventually Nick projects his image near us. "How much further?" I ask him, my limbs stiff from sitting in the same position for so long.

"Almost there, guys!" he responds. "As soon as you fly over Precipice Bridge, you're out of Lava territory!"

Suddenly a blast of fire almost hits us from behind. "Complications!" I yell, glancing over my shoulder to see Insecticus fire another blast that hits its mark - the right wing - causing us to crash land just short of Precipice Bridge.

Luckily none of us appear to be injured in any way as we hear booming footsteps. "Prepare for destruction!" Magmion shouts as he walks up the bridge, blocking our path. "Looks like you have a _little_ problem!" He laughs at his own joke.

That was a terrible joke! And, as much as I hate to admit it, I know a lot about terrible jokes. Heck, I've probably told a few myself!

"We'll prepare for destruction!" Lucas says bravely. "But it won't be ours - it'll be..." Before he has a chance to finish his sentence, Magmion swings his tail at him, forcing him to duck. However he is a little too slow and ends up getting hit, falling backwards.

"Man, we are so not intimidating right now!" I exclaim, looking up at Magmion. The sheer size difference between us and our attempts to get the upper hand will be laughable but we have to try.

Lucas and I charge forward. I stretch out my tentacles and wrap them around Magmion's ankle. When I try to pull, however, I find myself straining. Magmion laughs at my efforts. "Stop it!" he says. I redouble my efforts but it only seems to make him angrier as he yells, "Stop!" before raising his leg in a kicking motion, causing me to cry out as I fly through the air and hit the ground hard.

I notice Lucas approaching them while they are distracted by me. He uses his vines to swing himself up to Magmion by wrapping it around his blade arm. "Nighty-night, Lord of Mediocrity!" He then yells out, "Sleep Spores!"

He creates a cloud of green spores from his mouth which blow right into Magmion's face. Lucas swings himself to safety which is a good thing too because Magmion looks like he's about to blow. By blow, I mean sneeze, of course.

"Uh-oh..." Insecticus mutters, having flown up close, right before Magmion lets rip with a massive sneeze that sends the insect-like Lava Gormiti flying.

Jessica flies up and creates a miniature purple tornado with her hands, aiming it at Magmion. "Wind Attack!" she cries. The wind blows the spores away, causing Magmion who was on the verge of another sneeze to sigh with relief.

"Refreshing!" he says. Jessica ceases her attack and flies towards him, trying to get closer. "Okay, now annoying!" he frowns.

"Energy Bla-" Magmion raises his blade arm, striking Jessica in the back before she can attack once more. She crashes straight into Lucas who had moved forward, probably to try and catch her. The impact sends them backwards until they end up sprawled out at my feet.

I glance up at Magmion who starts laughing with his arms in the air while the others pick themselves up. "He's much better at battling tiny foes than we were!" I say.

Jessica lets out a happy sounding gasp. "Toby!" she exclaims, turning to face me. "You're a genius!"

I can't keep the grin off my face as I respond, "I know!" Nobody's ever told me I'm a genius before - that's usually the sort of compliment Nick gets, not me! Hold on... "What did I say?" I ask, confused.

"Keep Magmion busy!" she tells Lucas and I before flying off into the air.

"Like I have a choice!" I call after her. Magmion then swings his large tail into Lucas and I, knocking us off our feet.

As I lay on the ground, attempting to stand up, I hear Jessica taunting Insecticus. And judging from the angry growl he lets out after a few seconds, it appears to be working.

Lucas and I continue to do our best to battle-slash-distract Magmion, but I think it's less battle distraction and more plain annoyance. "Blast of Bark!" Lucas shouts, firing his wooden fist. It hits Magmion right in the eye, causing him to cry out in pain.

He rubs his eye before snapping, "I'm tiring of your games!" Lucas cries out as Magmion scoops him up.

"Hang on, Lucas!" I yell, trying to help him out by firing water globes at Magmion. "Aqua Blast!" Magmion turns his head and glares at me, causing me to whimper fearfully.

I hear Insecticus say mockingly, "Nice knowing you!" Turning around, I see Jessica flying straight towards Magmion with some of Insecticus' fiery shards behind her. At the last possible second, she swoops upward and the shards collide with Magmion.

In a flash of light, he shrinks down to the same size as us, Lucas dropping out of his hand and landing on the ground. Magmion falls between us, grumbling angrily. "Guess you'll have to pick on someone your own size, Magmion!" Jessica tells him cheekily.

He continues to grumble as we approach. "Get...off...me!" He holds his arm up, Insecticus flying down and picking him up, before flying them both away. "You're an utter waste, Insecticus!" he complains.

"I was thinking the same thing, Lord Magmion!" Insecticus responds. Do Lava Gormiti take insults as compliments or something? Eh, wouldn't surprise me!

"Sloppy!" Magmion snaps.

"Oh, sloppy - that's a new one!" Insecticus sounds impressed. "Thank you, your Mightyness!"

As they disappear from sight, Jessica declares, "Tiny is the new huge!"

"Size is a frame of mind!" I add.

"We rock!" Lucas cheers.

Suddenly we hear the sound of something approaching. I turn my head and exclaim, "Razzle!" in surprise.

Razzle walks towards us, Quarry riding on his back. "I'm unstoppable! Do you hear me?" he says confidently before asking, "Where's Insecticus? I could use a bite-sized snack!"

Wow, I've never seen Razzle act like this before! It's kinda cool!

"Sorry, Razz!" Jessica says, sounding apologetically amused. "He and Magmion just hightailed it outta here!

Razzle lets out a huge sigh of relief as he stands up on his hind legs, Quarry sliding down his back onto the ground. "Thank goodness! All this super-heroing is _exhausting!_ I think I'll leave it to you from now on!"

No, wait, never mind. He's back to normal. I join the others in laughing for a few moments before we turn and start walking towards Precipice Bridge. Lucas leads the way across. As soon as we've reached the other side, there is a flash of light and we all return to our normal size.

"Thank you for all you've done!" Quarry says gratefully. He bows his head, adding, "Once again, I find myself indebted to the Lords of Nature!"

We wish him well as he turns and walks away, heading back home to the Sea Nation. A portal forms above our heads and we grip each other's hands tightly, realizing that Nick must be gating us home.

"By the orbs of Gorm!" we say as we rise up out of the Gorm Gate.

"We'd better get up there!" I tell the others. "Mom and Dad are gonna kill Nick and I for not helping with the sale!" We start running up the stairs when I notice Nick heading towards the Gorm Gate. "Uh, Nick, you coming?"

"Be there in a second!" he calls back. We reach the kitchen, Nick joining us a few moments later and closing the pantry doors behind him.

We walk into the hall and out of the front door to see Mom and Dad standing by a table that had held the items we planned on selling. The sale was most definitely over. "Ah, you're finally here!" Mom says, not looking at all happy. "You're a little late, though - the sale finished fifteen minutes ago!"

"Responsibility!" Dad adds firmly. "A promise is a promise after all!" He doesn't look happy either!

Nick and I both lower our heads. "You're right," Nick says shamefully. "We're sorry. It won't ever happen again."

Mom and Dad frown at us for a few seconds before looking at each other and smiling. We got lucky this time - they could have grounded us!

"Well, you still have Captain Gecko!" Jessica points out before lowering her voice and adding, "You were able to gate him back, right?"

Nick looks awkwardly at his pocket, responding, "Uh, sort of." He pulls Captain Gecko or rather the charred remains of Captain Gecko out of his pocket. Its left foot, right hand and one wing are missing. The remaining wing is bent and burnt beyond repair. "At least he went out a hero!" he says, giving the figure a fond smile.

When it says its catchphrase, it comes out jerky and garbled. I think it's safe to say that Captain Gecko's days as a hero are officially over. We had some good times with him, Nick and I, but I guess we can't hold onto everything, right?

* * *

 _AN: I have to apologize once again for the sporadic updates. Unfortunately they will be commonplace so if you're a reader of my fanfics, be prepared for sporadic updates because I can only write when I have the time and I have limited time on my hands._

 _Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Sorry if it seems shorter than usual and I'll see you next time!_


	20. Chapter 19 - Super Gormiti

_AN: Hello, and welcome back to ROTLON! I hope you guys enjoy this chapter!_

* * *

"What did we get then?" I ask Nick as he walks into the living room with a pile of mail. We had just gotten home from school along with Lucas and he had picked up the mail since Mom and Dad are most likely at work right now.

"Some junk mail, bills and-"

Suddenly he holds up three envelopes. "Whoa, are those invitations?" Lucas asks. "There's one for each of us!"

Nick hands us each one of the envelopes. I tear mine open and pull out a card with a picture of a roller skate. Inside it read: " _You are invited to the pre-party hosted by Diane and Christopher Wakefield in celebration of the opening of the brand-new Venture Falls roller dome! The party will take place on Monday evening, preceding the opening celebration the following evening. Don't forget your skates!"_

"So _that's_ what Justin had in his backpack!" Lucas exclaims. "On my way here, I saw him with a bunch of envelopes. He must be delivering them to everyone in the class!"

Meanwhile Nick frowns. "Monday evening?" he says. "Isn't that when we're going to see-"

"-the new _Mega Monster_ movie? Yeah." I finish for him. "Guess we won't be going then." I don't consider it too much of a tragedy, to be honest. I've only ever spoken to Justin a couple of times. All I know about him is that his parents are rich and he seems to have everything: brains, athleticism, popularity and charm. Despite his being the most popular guy in our year, he seems to be a decent guy.

I pick up the remote and switch the TV on. The three of us momentarily disagree on what to watch before settling on the _Mega Monster_ cartoon that was being aired because of the new movie being released.

The rest of the weekend passes by fairly quickly. On Sunday evening, Nick and I are sat in the living room with Mom and Dad watching TV when the programme is interrupted by a news broadcast.

"We interrupt this programme to bring you breaking news!" the reporter says. "Early yesterday evening, a lorry was leaving town when the driver was forced to stop by a forest in the middle of the road! Scientists are still unsure of how this phenomenon could have occurred-"

I tune out the rest and turn to Nick. "Trees in the middle of the road?" I say. "Lucas'll have a field day!"

Sure enough, when we meet up with him the next day to go to school, the first thing he greets us with is, "Did you guys watch the news last night?"

We both nod as we walk onto the campus. "Trees in the middle of the highway - sounds like some kind of weird eco prank!" I say.

Lucas laughs. "That's _my_ kind of humour! For once, trees replace the road instead of the other way around!"

Nick looks thoughtful before stating, "Not exactly something that can be set up overnight!" He comes to a stop while Lucas and I look at him blankly. "I'm thinking...there's trouble in Gorm!"

"Yep!" I say, winking at him. "Keep an eye peeled for Razzle! I bet he shows up any second!" I turn around, half expecting our lizard companion to be standing there, and my eyes widen at the sight before me. Judging by the gasps behind me, Nick and Lucas are equally surprised. "Whoa, check it out!" I exclaim.

Jessica approaches us wearing purple roller skates and pink skating gear. As she gets closer, she turns on her heels and sails past us backwards, hands on her hips while looking incredibly pleased with herself. The three of us gasp, not entirely sure what to make of this.

Apparently she's not too good at it, though, as she starts losing her balance and windmills her limbs about to try and stay upright. When she finally succeeds, she skates after Justin who just walked past, her face having almost lit up when she saw him. For some reason, this makes my stomach feel a bit weird. Why is she never that happy to see _me?_

I shake my head, trying to clear my thoughts. But, as we watch her rather one-sided exchange with him, all I can think about is how his nose looks too big or how his hair looks greasy as though he used too much hair gel or that if it were me she was talking to, I would be giving her my undivided attention, not just ignoring her, even if he is wearing an MP3 and can't hear a word she's saying. Yeesh, what is _wrong_ with me today? How did I go from singing his praises to practically hating his guts?

"Nice talking to you!" she yells suddenly and I almost jump as I notice she's on the floor, having overbalanced apparently. I need a way to get these thoughts out of my head! But how...

We approach her as she manages to stand up, rubbing her arms. "I know, I know," she says before any of us have a chance to say anything. "I'm an Air Lord! I should be able to handle gravity!" I can't resist letting out a chuckle at this. She spins on her heel, gives me an intense glare and snaps through gritted teeth, "It's _complicated!"_

Deciding that I need to find a way to distract myself from the heavy, foreign feeling pressing on my chest, I say in a sing-song voice, "Ooh, I think someone has a crush on Justin!" Nick and Lucas laugh behind me but it's all I can do to force a grin on my face as I wait for her reaction, secretly hoping that she doesn't. Hang on, why do I even care if she likes him or not? Just because I _might_ like her doesn't mean she has to feel the same way about me!

Jessica looks at me as though I've grown an extra head and exclaims in disgust, "Ew, so _not!"_ I check her face for any tell-tale sign of embarrassment or that she's lying. To my relief, there's nothing and this seems to lift the weight off my chest. She doesn't fancy him! I almost feel like doing a happy dance but decide against it when she continues speaking, shifting her balance from one foot to another as she approaches us. "But, see, his mom and dad are opening the brand-new roller dome tomorrow night!"

"A-ha!" I exclaim, a little louder than I'd intended. "And _you're_ trying to get invited to the _oh-so-exclusive_ pre-party they're having tonight!"

"Precisely!" she responds, moving past us. I wait for her to register what I just said and mentally count down from three. Suddenly she whirls around on her heel behind us and asks, clearly confused, "Wait, how did _you_ know about it?"

I try and fail to resist the urge to roll my eyes. She's being so adorably naïve right now - how does she not know that the whole class got invitations? Did I just think she was adorable? I _did_ just think she was adorable.

Reaching into my pocket, I pull out my invitation and hold it up so she can see it. "Invitation!" I say casually. I don't even have to look at her to know how she'll react. First she'll blink in disbelief, then she'll stare longingly at the invitation. Finally she'll dash forward and snatch it out of my hands, just to confirm it's real.

When she does exactly that, I blink at her for a couple of seconds before recovering and asking, "Want it?" I figure if I'm not going to use it, she may as well since it would make her happy. She looks up at me and I continue, "We're going to the _Mega Monster_ movie downtown!" Nick chuckles behind me - guess he's excited or something!

"Um, _no!"_ Jessica exclaims after a few seconds, handing me the invitation back. "Unless I get my _own_ invitation, I'm not really invited!" Why is she making such a big deal out of this? An invitation is an invitation - it doesn't matter who it's for!

As she begins backing away, we notice Razzle standing behind her. He clears his throat which startles her so much she falls over... _again._ Luckily Razzle had darted over to me before she landed on him. I can feel his claws clinging to my jeans as he says impatiently, "This is no time for sitting around! There's trouble in Gorm!"

"We'd better get going!" I say to the others.

"Hey, wait up!" Jessica yells as she stands up, only to nearly overbalance herself again. The three of us exchange looks - if Jessica keeps those skates on, we'll never make it back home!

"Um, Jess," Lucas begins. "No offence but you might wanna ditch the skates!"

"Yeah," Nick agrees. "You might hurt yourself and then you won't be able to help in Gorm!"

She stares at me for a moment and I shrug, letting her know that I agree with what they're saying. "Alright," she sighs. "I guess you guys are right." She removes the skates and all the safety gear before putting her ordinary boots on. Standing up, she runs past us, looking over her shoulder and saying cheerfully, "Race you guys there!"

"Hey, get back here!" the three of us yell as we chase after her, Razzle now clinging to my shoulder.

It takes us about ten minutes to get down to the Primal Pad. Once we're there, Razzle leaps onto the control panel. "It seems that Lavion is on the warpath again!" he begins. Well, what else is new? The screen shows Lavion holding a glowing sword and dressed in armour? Weird - I didn't think that was his style. "And he appears to be protected by some kind of strange armour!"

"Interesting!" Nick says, looking at the armour. "It looks old! Like _old-_ old!"

Lucas, meanwhile, focuses his attention on the claw. "That's Lavion, alright. I'd recognize his claw arm anywhere!" he states. As an afterthought, he adds, "I don't see how someone wearing a tin suit in Gorm can rip a dimensional rift that puts trees on a freeway!"

I decide to point out the other strange thing they seem to have missed as I ask, "And what's the deal with that glowing sword?"

The image on the screen fades away, static replacing it. "Sorry, but that's all the information we've got!" Razzle says before looking serious. "Whatever Lavion is up to-"

" _Our_ mission is to stop him!" Jessica finishes for him.

" _Precisely!"_ Razzle agrees.

We run to stand around the Gorm Gate and cry out, "Elementals!"

"Earth!" Nick begins.

"Water!" I yell.

"Forest!" Lucas shouts.

"Air!" Jessica finishes.

"Reveal to us the Keeper and give to them your chair!"

The chair starts to spin around rapidly. When it starts to slow down, Razzle calls out, "And the Keeper is..." The chair stops, an orange icon with the Earth symbol glowing on the back, "...Earth!" Nick grins happily as Razzle says, "That's you, kid!"

Nick runs past Lucas who says, "Congrats!" while holding his hand up. The two of them high-five, grinning widely.

"You know it!" Nick responds as he runs over to the chair and jumps into it. It rises up, bringing him level with the control panel. After waving his hands over the crystals, he turns to look at us, saying, "Please keep your hands and arms inside the Gorm Gate at all times!"

The three of us, along with Razzle, jump into the Gorm Gate with this go-ahead, cheering happily. Eventually we land somewhere in the Forest Nation as Nick says, "And...touchdown!" He then informs us, "Okay, guys, Travel Tome says you should be in the forest!"

I look around. Trees as far as the eye can see? Yep, we're definitely in the forest! "Confirmed!" I tell him, before spotting someone approaching us and pointing in that direction. "And here comes Lavion!" Sure enough, Lavion is marching menacingly towards us, dressed in armour and still holding that weird sword.

"Stand by for full glow!" Nick tells us. After a few moments, he confirms, "You're good to glow!"

Together the three of us chant, "Elemental powers flow, Gormiti - Lords of Nature, go, go, go!"

"Powers of the Sea!" I yell as I transform.

Lavion seems to have been waiting for this because he says, "Ah, the Lords of Nature!" He raises the sword and hits his claw against it threateningly. " _This_ should work out quite nicely!" He lets out a roar as he charges towards us. I'm not sure if it's the armour or if he just has a bad cold but his voice sounds strange for some reason. Oh, well, a battle against a Lava Gormiti is what we came here for!

"Split up! Flank him!" I tell the others as I charge towards Lavion.

Lucas remains in place, holding one hand to his head and the other out in front of him. "Biokinesis!" he yells as rings of light emit from him. Several large, strong brown vines burst out of the ground, forming a kind of barrier.

Unfortunately Lavion uses his claw to slice right through it. He charges towards Lucas who fires a bark-like fist at him. After managing to bat it away, he swings the sword at Lucas, connecting it with his fist. There is a bright, blue glow that lasts for a few seconds. When it clears, I notice that one of Lucas' bark-like hands seems to be missing. Instead he has a red, metal-like hand. He stares at it in confusion.

He doesn't have time to be confused, though. Lavion tucks the sword behind his back and fires a bark-like fist at Lucas. Man, it must be weird to be attacked with your own power! The fist connects, sending him flying. When he hits the ground, he looks up at Lavion who steps forward, laughing menacingly as the fist grows back in place.

"Hey!" Jessica calls out suddenly while he is momentarily distracted by his evil laughing that I swear is a part of every bad guy's contract. She swoops down towards him but Lavion manages to hit her with the sword, too. Again there is a bright, blue glow that lasts for a short time. When it clears this time, however, I notice that her wings are missing. Having still been in the air, she immediately drops to the ground. Luckily she hadn't been too high or that could have really hurt! Like Lucas, she seems confused by what just happened, feeling for where her wings should be but realizing they're no longer there.

I look up at Lavion who is laughing as he rises into the air, Jessica's wings sprouting from his back. This is my chance! "Mighty Tentacles!" I yell as I wrap my tentacles around his ankle with the intent of pulling him down to the ground. Out of the corner of my eye, I see him swing the sword at me as I try to pull down to the ground.

A mere few seconds later, I feel a strange sensation. When it clears, my head feels weird, heavier than it usually does. Wait...don't tell me! I put my hands to where my head is and instead feel the coldness of metal. Immediately I try to pull it off, the overall sensation of it uncomfortable. "Get...this...off...of...me!" I yell as I continue to struggle with what I now know is the helmet Lavion had been wearing just a few moments before.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, Lavion flings a tree trunk at us. Having all been distracted by the loss of our body parts, none of us were able to move out of the way before it hits us, sending us all flying into a rocky wall behind us before we slump to the ground.

"Heads up!" Nick warns. "It's gonna go!" At first I think he's making a terrible joke, because right now I don't even _have_ my own head. Then I hear a loud rumbling sound from behind me. I think the others have noticed it too but, due to the pain and exhaustion, there's little we can do as we are buried by the debris from the collapsing rock wall.

While trapped, we can hear Lavion laughing as he says, "Is that all the Lords of Nature have?" He might have said something else after that but I don't catch it.

We begin trying to clear some of the debris. Luckily it wasn't as much as it had seemed when it buried us. "Well, _that_ could have gone better!" Razzle comments. "And now Lavion got away!"

I manage to push upwards against the rock on top of me, finally able to see something other than rocks. The rock balances between the two horns on the helmet, which I tap with my fist as I say, "Yeah, because that weird armour has some kind of weird magic to it! It won't come off!" The tapping frees the rock which crashes to the ground with a thud. I can feel Razzle attempting to pull the helmet loose but, like me, his efforts are unsuccessful.

Nick projects his image beside us. "I found something!" he tells us. "That weird armour is actually a legendary piece of Gorm magic known as the Volc Armour! The glowing sword doesn't cut off a limb - it swaps it out with a piece of the armour!"

Is there really any point in that? "What's the use of that?" I ask him.

"It leaves your opponent encased in heavy armour piece by piece while you get to run off with all of their powers!" he explains.

"Like _my_ wings!" Jessica exclaims, frowning.

"My _head!"_ I add, already sick of the helmet being stuck to me.

"My fist!" Lucas joins us in complaining.

 _"My claw!"_

Apparently we aren't the only ones who've fallen victim to Lavion today. We look around as we hear somebody groaning. "Someone's trapped!" I say to the others as we make our way over to the sounds.

Lucas and I lift up a log after spotting a red metal hand, similar to the one Lucas has instead of his fist. But the Gormiti underneath it is the last one any of us expected to see. " _Lavion?"_ I exclaim, thoroughly confused. "I thought you just flew away! And where's your claw?"

"Stolen by Fiery Hammer and replaced with this _hideous_ metal!" Lavion replies as we move the log away. He stands up and continues, "Although I certainly cannot blame him for taking my claw! _Everyone_ wants the claw of Lavion!"

Everyone, huh? Last time I checked, I didn't want ' _the claw of Lavion!'_

"Fiery Hammer must have the Volc Armour!" Nick exclaims, projecting his image beside me.

"Ah, but now the Lords of Nature have come to my aid!" Lavion says. "To win me justice and bring back my claw! Together we shall _reclaim the claw of Lavion!"_ This guy really likes the sound of his own voice, doesn't he?

I glance at Jessica and Lucas. "Might as well go with it!" I mutter.

"Yeah," Jessica responds, also unimpressed with Lavion's _it's all about me_ attitude. "As long as he thinks it's all about him, he'll be on _our_ side!"

"Follow me!" Lavion commands. Though none of us like the idea of taking orders from Lavion, it doesn't seem like we have any other choice right now. We exchange glances before Jessica shrugs and we fall into step behind him.

Lavion moves through the forest with purpose. "Where are you, my beautiful claw? Come to Lavion!" he keeps saying.

"You get the feeling he loves that claw a little _too much_?" I mutter to the others. Jessica laughs, then immediately claps her hand over her mouth, worried that Lavion might have heard her. Luckily he's too far ahead to hear anything we say.

Eventually we see him standing near the edge of the forest. He seems to be gazing up at the sky before looking around as he hears us approaching. "There!" he exclaims, pointing up into the sky.

Sure enough, Fiery Hammer is standing on one of the floating citadels of the Air Nation. "Ah, the Lords of Nature are back for another round, eh?" he says before leaping into the air. "Very well! I could always use _more_ powers!"

He swoops down towards us. "Incoming!" I say warningly. Suddenly I look over as Lavion begins speaking again, my eyes widening in surprise at his attitude.

"Come, Lords of Nature! We shall fight together side by side and together defeat-" Fiery Hammer doesn't seem to like hearing Lavion's voice as he fires off Lucas' fist at him. All three of us flinch and duck as Lavion gets thrown backwards by the impact. That went well. I had no idea Lavion was so eager to be on our side - I guess he's that desperate for his claw back, he'd do anything!

We look around, hearing Fiery Hammer's laughter. The fist grows back, just as it does for Lucas. "Jungle Attack!" Lucas yells, stretching out brown vines. Fiery Hammer quickly flies upwards before they can wrap around him.

Jessica tries next, throwing sharp feather darts at him but he uses the sword to knock them back. They hit the ground in front of us. This is not going well at all!

Fiery Hammer lands on the ground, glaring at us. Suddenly he starts charging towards us, letting out an angry cry. This could be our chance! "Aqua Blast!" I shout, firing a jet of water at him, keeping him from getting closer. He slides backwards but remains standing.

I race forward, no real idea of what I'm doing, but eager to do something all the same. Unfortunately it's a huge mistake on my part. Fiery Hammer flips around, hitting my stomach with the sword.

"Wha-!" I exclaim as I look down, realizing that Fiery Hammer must have stolen another power from me. Well, that's just _great!_ I let out a cry as Fiery Hammer hits me with my own attack, firing a stream of water at me. Though I manage to stay on my feet, it does push me back quite away.

Just as I feel ready to collapse, I see Lucas and Jessica running to stand in front of me to take the attack instead.

"Toby!" Lucas yells.

"Keep behind us!" Jessica shouts.

By this point, my legs have given way and I'm far too exhausted to do or say anything. All I can do is watch as they hold their arms up in front of them in a futile attempt to protect themselves from a continuous blast of water.

Suddenly I feel a familiar sensation above me. Nick's pulling us back? But why now? We haven't even stopped Fiery Hammer!

"By the orbs of Gorm!" the three of us say as we rise up out of the Gorm Gate. We walk over to Nick who is watching Fiery Hammer confront Lavion on the screen. When he finally looks around at us, I'm not sure if it's just me but he seems a bit nervous. It might be because we're all frowning at him, annoyed because we were pulled back before we had a chance to stop Fiery Hammer.

"Look, I know you're upset," he tells us. "But it was an emergency! You were just about to turn back to human!"

"Yeah, but Fiery Hammer's still using our powers!" Lucas points out angrily. "It's going to take _forever_ to charge up the orbs!"

"Maybe not!" I say, looking around at the shelves behind us. "Maybe there's something in the library that can help us!" Whoa, did I just suggest we do some reading? What is _wrong_ with me? I'm a _get in the thick of the action_ guy, not a _sit around and read_ guy!

"Well, let's get to it!" Jessica says, stepping towards the shelves. Before she can get close, Lucas steps out in front of her, blocking her path.

"Not so fast, speedy!" he exclaims.

Jessica folds her arms and lets out an exasperated huff. "Wait, don't tell me I'm not invited!" she complains.

"To the library? Sure!" he says, grinning. "But you're running out of time!"

My eyes widen as I watch him hold up her skates. She lets out a questioning gasp before saying incredulously, "You can't be serious!"

"We've got things covered here!" Lucas assures her, putting his hand on her shoulder and gently pushing her in the direction of the stairs. "Go find Justin and get your invite!"

Though I'm smiling as she walks past, my mind is filled with turmoil. One part of me wants to encourage her to get the invite because it would make her happy. Another part, though, selfishly wants to figure out a way to make her stay.

"Do you know where he is?" Nick asks, causing her to stop in her tracks.

 _Please say no! Please say no!_ "No," she responds. _Yes!_ "But Gina will!" she adds, brightening up again. And just like that, my hope crashes down again, making me feel even more awful than before. She heads up the stairs, taking the little hope I had left with her, before poking her head back around to look at us. "You're sure?" she asks.

"Go!" we say impatiently.

She looks in Nick's direction. "And you'll call me?" she asks frantically.

Nick sounds amused as he responds, "As soon as the orbs are charged, yes! Go already!"

"Thanks!" she calls before disappearing up the steps.

I stalk towards the shelves, still not understanding why this whole situation is making me feel as though a ton of bricks just got dropped on me.

While we look through the books, Nick and Lucas start talking. Though my mind is elsewhere, I can still hear what they're saying.

"What I don't understand is why Jessica didn't get invited!" Lucas says, puzzled.

"Actually...she did!" Nick admits sheepishly, causing Lucas to gasp. "But I believe I threw out her invitation with the junk mail!" After a pause, he adds defensively, "What? It looked like junk!"

* * *

I continue to look through the book, trying to think about anything other than Jessica wanting to go to Justin's party. The unpleasant feeling in my stomach returns, stronger than ever.

Luckily Nick and Lucas don't ask me for my opinion on what had happened with Jessica's invitation because I'm pretty sure I would have just started ranting about how much I hate the thought of her wanting to hang out with another guy that isn't Nick, Lucas or I.

Wait a minute...

Is that what's bothering me? Am I...jealous? Normally I would laugh myself silly at this thought but it frighteningly makes a lot of sense. I don't want to admit it but I have to face it - I am jealous.

I feel so stupid. She's perfectly entitled to hang out with whoever she wants. And, even though I know she said she didn't have a crush on him, a part of me can't help but feel that maybe she does.

"Any luck, you guys?" I call out, hoping that Nick and Lucas have been more successful than I have. I feel like I've searched the entire library - I haven't really - but I haven't found a thing. Nothing that's useful, anyway.

"No, nothing," they reply as I run over to them.

"Yeah, me neither," I tell them. "Shouldn't you let Jess know?" I remind Nick.

My brother nods and pulls his phone out of his pocket while glancing at the orbs. They seem to have charged up a bit in the time we've spent looking for information but they'll just keep draining if we don't find a way to get our powers back.

I hear the beeping of keys and a dial-tone before Nick says frantically, "Jess! Only five more minutes on the orbs! Get back here!"

* * *

About five minutes after Nick had called her, Jessica runs down the steps. I look at Lucas. " _You_ tell her..." I say flatly.

"Tell me _what_?" she asks, her eyes darting from me to Lucas and back again.

"The library was a washout! We're stuck with what we've got!" Lucas exclaims. "As long as Fiery Hammer uses our powers, he'll be using our orbs!"

"Luckily," I say. "Nick has a plan!"

"It's simple," he begins as I grin at him. "Step one - we win fast before the orbs can drain!" I shrug while grinning widely. It's the best plan I've ever heard!

"Nice plan!" Jessica says sarcastically.

"I know!" I exclaim happily, choosing to ignore her sarcasm. "I love a one step plan!"

"We can't let Fiery Hammer land even _one_ strike!" Nick continues as he stands up. "It's the Volc Armour that's causing the rift activity!"

"Ah, the forest on the freeway! I get it! Every time a piece gets swapped, some switcheroo happens here on Earth!" Jessica guesses.

Nick jumps back into the chair. "During that last battle, a mountain appeared in the desert, an iceberg ran aground in Hawaii and the United Nations filled with cacti!" he informs us.

"I get the point," Jessica says as she walks over to the control panel.

"So do they." Nick jokes. Wait, at least I think that was a joke. It sure sounded like one.

Lucas and I walk over too. "Look, there's no telling what might switch next," Lucas points out. "But the stronger Fiery Hammer gets..."

"The more likely it is that it's gonna be global and catastrophic!" I finish for him, looking up at the image of Earth on the screen which has several strange vortexes. I guess they must represent the areas affected by the rift so far.

Nick moves the crystals around to reopen the Gorm Gate. "Remember. Step one - win fast!" he reminds us before the three of us, along with Razzle, run and jump through the Gorm Gate. "And...touchdown! You're good to glow!"

"By the orbs of Gorm!" the three of us yelled together.

"Powers of the Sea!" I cry as I transform. It feels weird having that armour in place of my head. Hey, wait a minute, how did I have my head when I gated back to Earth? Shouldn't I have been headless?

Once we're all done transforming, I tell the others in a hushed voice, "Remember, hold your fire. We have limited ammo."

A groan and the sound of a rock moving behind us cuts me off. Jessica spins around, yelling, "Energy Blast!" as she shoots two blue funnels of energy at the rock pile, causing them to explode and whoever had made the groan to cry out.

When the smoke and dust clears, we see Lavion lying on the ground, looking a little worse for wear. "I _said hold your fire!"_ I say to Jessica through gritted teeth.

"He _startled_ me!" she exclaims defensively before turning to face Lavion. "You _startled_ me!"

Lucas had helped Lavion into a sitting position. "Fiery Hammer thought I would not last to tell anyone!" he says weakly before coughing. "I fought bravely, of course, but my claw was simply too magnificent!" He lets out a groan of pain and adds, "He left to find Magmion!"

"Whoa... Fiery Hammer teaming up with Magmion? That's not good!" I say, looking over at Jessica. The last time we encountered Fiery Hammer, he double-crossed me in an attempt to get back into Magmion's good books. The idea of him wanting to team up with the Gormiti who banished him sounds a little strange to me.

"No, no, you misunderstand," Lavion tells me. "He has no interest in joining forces. He has gone to _defeat_ Magmion!" He groans again and explains, "Revenge for his years spent banished in exile!"

"Uh, Nick?" Lucas calls out. "If Fiery Hammer uses the Volc Armour to steal a power from Magmion..."

"It's still gonna trigger a rift switcheroo, yep!" Nick confirms. "Uh-oh, I'm picking up a power signature. It's Magmion!"

"Where? Where?" Jessica asks frantically as the three of us tense up, looking around.

 _"Here!"_ Magmion steps forward. "Join with me and together we shall stop Fiery Hammer!"

What is it with the Lava Gormiti wanting to join forces with us today? "Join _you?_ Ha!" I say incredulously. He doesn't actually expect us to take him seriously, does he?

Magmion slams his tail on the ground impatiently before walking towards us. The three of us prepare to attack, not trusting him one bit. "Fiery Hammer is already too powerful to defeat on my own!" he admits. "I need your help and _you_ need mine!"

"No. We don't." Jessica says dryly.

"You _do!"_ Magmion snaps angrily. "If you wish to keep your precious _Earth_ safe!" He takes a couple of steps closer towards us.

Nick projects his image near us. "Whoa, back up, did he just say _'your Earth?_ ' How does he-" he asks, alarmed.

"One thing at a time!" I tell him. "We've gotta stop Fiery Hammer and get our powers back!"

"Magmion's right," Lucas chimes in. "For now, we're each other's best chance!"

I glance at Jessica and we both nod at one another before the three of us pile one of our hands on top of each other. We look at Magmion who hesitates for a moment before putting his blade-like hand on top of the pile.

Lavion suddenly lets out a groan. To be honest, I kind of forgot about him. He stands up, looking ridiculously happy as he says, "Now the Lords of Nature _and_ Magmion have come to the aid of Lavion!" He walks a couple of steps and nearly falls over before standing up and yelling, " _Reclaim the claw of Lavion!"_ After that, he falls flat on his back.

I look at the others. Even Magmion looks vaguely disturbed by what we just witnessed. With much less enthusiasm, I raise my arm in the air and say awkwardly, "Yeah...reclaim the claw of Lavion! Let's do it!"

We begin walking towards Volcano Mountain. Lavion lags a little way behind, probably because of his earlier fight with Fiery Hammer. He keeps on insisting that he's fine, though. Despite him collapsing a couple of times, he somehow manages to keep up.

None of us bother speaking. Just because we have to work with each other doesn't mean we have to like it. Eventually we reach Volcano Mountain and see Fiery Hammer standing on the path in front of us, facing the volcano.

"I'm back, Magmion!" he calls out. "Back from banishment! Come out, come out! What? Are you afraid of Fiery Hammer?"

"Hardly," Magmion says, unimpressed, as Fiery Hammer turns around.

" _Magmion!"_ he says before noticing the three of us. "And...the Lords of Nature?"

Magmion lets out an angry growl and steps forward when Lavion suddenly leaps out in front of us. "Don't forget I, Lavion!" he yells. "We reclaim the claw of Lavion! Surrender now -"

Fiery Hammer apparently doesn't like listening to Lavion talking about his claw as he uses Lucas' vines to grab him and trap his head in a hole inside a rock. "Release Lavion!" Lavion cries repeatedly, punching his fist against the rock.

Magmion takes this opportunity to strike, rushing forward. "Welcome back, _traitor!"_ he says menacingly. He swings his massive tail at Fiery Hammer who flies up into the air to avoid it, laughing mockingly.

"Careful, I've picked up a few new tricks since we last fought!" he yells. Yeah, those new tricks happen to be _our_ powers! He fires off several water globes as well as a bark-like fist. Magmion lets out a cry as the fist hits first, sending him back a few feet but he remains standing.

"Oh no!" he shouts, moments before being hit with the barrage of water globes which send him crashing to the ground, nearly knocking the three of us over in the process.

"Get him!" Nick tells us, his image projected near us. "Come on! Make every shot count!"

Jessica is apparently ahead of Lucas and I on that front as she cries out, "Energy Blast!" releasing a funnel of blue energy from her hands. Fiery Hammer simply flies lower, however, and the attack misses its mark.

"Jungle Feet!" Lucas yells, stomping his foot as a thick, brown vine erupts from the ground but misses its mark.

"Claw of the Abyss!" I shout, my right hand transforming into a giant claw. Fiery Hammer swoops down and I attempt to clamp my claw around him but he remains frustratingly just out of reach. Then he gets a little too close and I manage to make contact. The blow sends him crashing down and I run forward, intent on finishing what I started.

Raising my claw, I find myself stopped as his hands emit a blue glow. I notice him reaching for his sword - if he steals another power from me, that'll be the third one and that's three too many! He starts to swing the sword down but, to my surprise, he completely misses.

"Hey!" Magmion yells, having gotten behind Fiery Hammer. He swings his massive tail at the traitorous Lava Gormiti who flies up to avoid the impact. A crack forms in the ground where the tail had hit.

Fiery Hammer reacts quickly, swinging the sword before Magmion has a chance to move away. The contact of sword against tail produces _another_ blue glow as Magmion lets out a startled cry.

"Nice!" Fiery Hammer says appreciatively as Magmion's tail swings behind him. "I _like_ that!" He hits Magmion with the tail, sending him flying.

"Uh-oh," Lucas says, worried. "He landed another armour switch!"

Nick projects his image beside us. "Whatever happens, don't let him do another!" he instructs.

"It's that dumb magic armour!" Jessica exclaims. "We've got to get rid of it!"

"That'll be step two," Nick states. " _After_ you win, you gotta return the Volc Armour to its original tomb in the magma fields."

Hey, this is too much at once, here! "Whoa, slow down, bro!" I protest. "I thought this was a _one_ step plan?"

Nick smirks at me. "I was keeping it simple." I honestly don't know whether I should be offended or not.

Suddenly we hear a cry and look over to see Fiery Hammer holding a limp Magmion above him. "It is done!" he cries triumphantly. "I have _won!_ And now, Lord Magmion, _I_ shall banish _you!_ I have _power,_ unlimited power! You tried to exclude me and now you will _pay!"_

Unlimited power? _That_ doesn't sound right!

Jessica frowns. "Ew, now I see what Gina meant! It _is_ an ugly and selfish attitude!"

Lucas holds his hand up to stop her. "Never mind that!" he exclaims. "Did he just say unlimited power?"

As one, the three of us cry out, "Fiery Hammer doesn't know!"

"Of course!" Nick says, probably feeling like he should be kicking himself right about now. "Quick, everybody! Forget about power saving! Go full blast! Full blast!"

"That's more like it!" I yell, not even bothering to hide the excitement in my voice. Holding back has never been something I enjoy doing.

"Energy Blast!" Jessica cries, releasing a funnel of energy from her hands.

"Mind over Water!" I yell, releasing several rings of energy.

Fiery Hammer tosses Magmion away from him as Lucas yells "Jungle Feet!" The vines erupt from the ground as we produce attack after attack.

"Keep it up! I can do this _all day!"_ he brags. Uh, that's where you're wrong, pal!

Eventually I start to feel my powers fading as I drop to my knees, returning to human form. "We're out and so is he!" Lucas says.

A massive blue glow emits from Fiery Hammer, forcing us to shield our eyes. "No!" he yells in despair as the glow fades and he crashes to the ground right near Magmion, the sword skidding to a halt close by.

Magmion stands up, looking very imposing as Fiery Hammer backs away. Without the powers he stole, he no longer has any advantage and Magmion knows this. "S-Stay back!" Fiery Hammer yells desperately, grabbing the sword and attempting to swing it but Magmion simply bats it away with his hand. "No...no! Please, Lord Magmion, have mercy!"

Magmion apparently isn't interested in listening to Fiery Hammer's pleas as he begins removing the Volc Armour piece by piece, tossing each part as far as he can.

"Come on," Jessica says quietly as she makes her way over to pick up a piece of armour. Lucas and I follow suit."Step to it! We gotta get this back to its tomb!"

Suddenly she lets out a cry as the sword gets thrown at the ground in front of her. Any closer and, well, I don't really want to think about it.

"The Volc Armour is now _mine!"_ Magmion declares. "Hands off!" I guess the alliance is over now, then.

Out of nowhere, Lavion - who I honestly forgot about - tackles him and starts yelling about his claw again. As the three Lava Gormiti begin fist-fighting, Jessica exclaims, "Now's our chance! Go! Go!"

Each of us carries as much armour as we can manage as we run down the hill, thankfully not being noticed.

"Okay, guys, I've looked it up and the cavern you need should be close by," Nick tells us. "Ah, yes, next left! Time for step two!"

We turn left and enter a cavern. Nick's mentioning of a step two reminds me of something. "You could have _mentioned_ it was a plan with more than one step!" I complain. "I'm just saying - the beauty of a one step plan is its simplicity. As soon as you add a step two..."

"Tell you what," Nick interrupts. "Think of this as step one of a totally different task - returning the armour!"

I think about it for a moment before grinning. "Works for me!"

Eventually we reach the end of the cave where a featureless statue stands atop a stone podium. "This looks like it's gotta be the place!" I say to the others.

One by one, we attach each piece of armour to the statue. Every time we do so, the piece just attached glows a bright gold for a couple of seconds.

"Yep, readings show orb power is normalizing!" Nick confirms just before I place the helmet on the statue's head. This time, the whole thing glows brightly as we watch in awe. The only piece missing is the hand piece Lavion has. "And we've got retro rift activity. Everything's switching back! I think we did it, team!"

"Are we sure?" Jessica asks uncertainly.

"I know one way to find out!" Nick responds. "You're good to glow!"

"Elemental powers flow!" we yell together before transforming. To our delight, we all have our powers back! "Yeah!" we cheer as we high-five.

"Hey, guys, I hate to cut the celebration short but if I don't gate you back now, we're going to miss the film!" Nick tells us.

A few moments later, a portal forms above our heads and we rise up towards it, returning to human form once more as we find ourselves back in the Primal Pad.

As we head towards the stairs, Jessica stops and clears her throat. "Um. do you think I could, uh, use one of your invites for the party, please?" she asks a little awkwardly.

I fish around in my pockets for my invite which I had offered to let her use earlier. My fingers brush against the paper just as I notice Lucas handing her his own invite. A little put-out, I remove my hand from my pocket. Still, I don't suppose it really matters whose invite she uses.

We exit the Primal Pad and leave the house after making sure that we had enough money to pay for tickets and food. Jessica is carrying her skates in one hand and we all laugh and chat animatedly as we walk down the street.

Soon we come across a fairly modern-looking building. On the wall, a poster showing a roller-skater tells us that this must be the new roller dome. We stop in our tracks watching as several people walk up the steps to the doorway, all of them carrying skates. A boy stands at the entrance, clearly there to check if they had invites.

"I'm glad you decided to just go ahead and use my invite," Lucas tells Jessica.

She smiles, laughing sheepishly. "Yeah, I guess I _was_ getting a bit ugly and selfish about it!" she admits. "After all, a party's a party!"

"And now that Magmion knows about Earth, we'd better enjoy some good times while we still can!" Nick points out, looking at me.

" _That's_ the spirit!" Lucas exclaims cheerfully. "Well, we'll catch you later!" he says to Jessica.

I walk up beside him. "Come on, already!" I say, getting a little impatient as I drape my arm over his shoulder. "We've got a Mega Monster movie to see! Let's go!"

Nick joins us and the three of us walk away, laughing as we head further down the street to the cinema. We arrive quickly and walk up the steps. I pull open the door and hold it open for Nick and Lucas to walk through when I hear panting and the sound of running footsteps.

I look around to see Jessica standing at the foot of the stairs. "Guys, wait up!" She walks up the steps and looks at me as she shrugs. "I know where _I_ wanna be included!" she says simply before leading the way in. The three of us smile before following her, the door swinging shut behind me.

As soon as we're all inside the building, Lucas cries out, "Group hug!" Jessica lets out a shriek as we hug her but hugs us back anyway.

"Guys, let me go!" Her protests don't sound too desperate as she struggles not to laugh.

We break apart when we notice that the staff and people waiting in the queues are staring at us. "Um, I'll buy us the tickets, shall I?" Nick suggested, walking over to join the queue.

I glance around and spot the concessions stand on the other side. My eyes light up and I practically drag Lucas and Jessica over. "What's a movie without popcorn?" I point out.

We scan the boards above for the prices and check to make sure we have enough money before I step up to the counter and order four bags of popcorn and drinks from the bubblegum-chewing cashier who nods and rings up the purchase before walking away to collect the food. She returns a few moments later and hands us the bags and cups. "Enjoy the film," she says in a tone that clearly sounds like she is only saying it because she gets paid to.

Soon after, Nick joins us. "Got the tickets," he said. "Theatre four." I hand him his popcorn and drink, having already given Lucas and Jessica theirs. Then we head through the right side door to find theatre four. Once we have, we enter the room and find some seats in the middle row and sit down. The last of the adverts finishes playing and the movie begins.

* * *

After the movie ends, the four of us leave the cinema. It's pretty dark now and if we stay out any later, our parents will probably send out search parties to look for us. "Guess we'd better head home then!" Nick says to us.

A look of worry and disappointment flashes across Jessica's face before she gives us an obviously fake smile and says, "Well, I'll see you guys tomorrow!" It seems as though she doesn't want to go home.

"Wait!" I exclaim, jogging after her and grabbing her hand. The contact almost makes me forget what I want to say. "I-I'll walk with you!"

"Y-you don't...why?" she stutters, looking nervous for some reason. I falter, not knowing how to explain. Instead, I look over my shoulder at Nick and Lucas who just look very confused.

"You guys don't mind, do you?" I ask and they shake their heads. "Thanks, well, I'll see you later!" Jessica echoes this sentiment before we start walking down the street in the opposite direction to Nick and Lucas.

The walk is silent as I try to think of how best to phrase what I want to say. The last thing I want to do is make her angry or hurt her feelings. Thinking things through isn't generally something I find easy.

"So, uh, you gonna tell me what today was all about?"

"What do you mean?"

I hold my hand up to stop her walking. By now, we can't be too far from her house. "Jess, I know you've never been interested in roller skating." A suspicious look crosses over my face. "Wait, you weren't _lying_ about having a crush on Justin, were you?" I hope I don't sound too desperate here.

She glares at me, shaking her head. "Toby, read my lips: I do _not_ have a crush on Justin! Happy now?"

"Very," I say without thinking. Oh man, She's bound to realize my... wait, she isn't saying anything. To my astonishment, my comment seems to have flown over her head. I let out a sigh of relief before adding, "So, why, then?"

She hangs her head, staring at the pavement below. "You're not gonna let me leave until I tell you, right?" Her voice is shaking slightly and I begin to wonder if this really was a good idea. But, before I can voice my concern, she continues.

"It's stupid, really, but I just... I just wanted to feel like I fitted in somewhere. I wanted to feel as if people other than you guys and Gina cared about me." In a whisper, she adds bitterly, "But who am I kidding? She was right - I don't deserve to be loved..."

The way she's acting makes me realize that I probably wasn't supposed to hear that last part. But I had...and I couldn't be angrier. Someone had said _that_ to her! It couldn't be any further from the truth.

"Jess..." I say gently, stepping forward and wrapping my arms around her. The fact that she even allows this speaks volumes of the trust between us. "You _are_ loved. Loads of people love you - like your parents," here she flinches slightly, "Nick, Lucas, Gina, my parents...and me. Don't think that you don't deserve to be cared about...because you do." I notice her reaction when I mention her parents but I choose not to say anything. It's too soon. The last thing I want to do right now is get into a potential argument with her - not when she's this upset.

She looks up at me, her eyes swimming with emotion. It's the closest to crying I've seen her since we were five. I hold her closer to me, as though trying to protect her. I've never seen her so vulnerable before and I want to help her in any way I can. When did I become so emotionally invested in her?

She isn't looking at me, seeming determined to not look me in the eye. I raise my hand and gently cup her face, tilting it up towards me before leaning in just as she turns her head.

It takes five seconds for me to realize that rather than kissing her cheek as I had intended, my lips had instead collided with hers. She lets out a squeak, and I open my eyes, unaware that I'd even closed them in the first place. I move away from her slightly, noting that my face feels like it's on fire.

 _I kissed her... I kissed Jessica. My best friend._

The atmosphere is now slightly awkward. I look at her, trying to gauge her reaction. Her cheeks are bright red and she looks slightly dazed. At least she isn't angry - I _did_ just take her first kiss, after all (even if it _was_ an accident).

"I-I'm sor..." I start to stutter. I can't even string together a single sentence now. One kiss and my nerves seem to have skyrocketed. What is wrong with me?

To my surprise, I feel her hugging me. "Thank you," she whispers, her cheeks still red. She pulls away from me and gives me a small yet radiant smile. "I should probably be going now."

I nod, smiling back. She turns and begins to walk in the opposite direction to me. I cannot help but look over my shoulder as I walk away from her. My eyes meet hers - she'd evidently looked over her shoulder as well - and I see the happiness and confusion in them. We break the contact between us as we turn our heads away and make our own way home.

As I start to walk home, a thought runs through my head. Despite how awkward and short-lived the kiss had been, a part of me wanted it to happen again.

Hardly any chance of that happening! Right?

* * *

 _AN: Wow,guys,it has been so long since I last updated this. I just want to let you guys know that I am not giving up on any of my fics. My updates are just very sporadic because I don't have a lot of free time. Well, I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it._


	21. Chapter 20 - Crops of Wrath

_AN: Hello and welcome back to ROTLON! I hope you guys are still enjoying this as well as the blizzardstormshipping oneshots series!_

* * *

I wander down the corridor of the school for my first lesson of the day - History. Nick and Lucas have English on the floor below me but I'll have Jessica for company at least.

It's been a week or two since that... _moment_ between us and no matter how hard I've tried, I can't forget about it. She's more than likely cast it from her mind by now but I _can't_ and worse, I don't know _why._

With my mind wandering, it takes a few seconds for me to register the chanting coming from a group of students gathered outside my classroom.

Two people are in the middle of the crowd, the centre of attention. As I get closer, I see them and mentally groan. This is _not_ happening!

Madison is standing in front of Jessica, her arms folded and a smirk on her face. I notice Jessica clenching her fists and, though she's facing away from me, I can picture the glare on her face quite clearly.

"It must be so _wonderful_ to have a family like yours, Jessica! With a useless..."

She never gets to finish her sentence as Jessica lets out an angry scream and launches herself at the brunette. My eyes widen as I realize that, unless someone does something, there's going to be a major fight. There's no chance of anyone else helping out, though, so I guess it's up to me.

Moving quickly, I grab Jessica around the waist and pull her away from Madison, holding her closer to me. "Let me go!" she seethes, struggling violently against me.

"Shhh," I say, trying to soothe her. It's taking all of my strength to hold her back. Since when was she _this_ strong? "Come on, Jess, you're better than this." Eventually her body relaxes and she stops attempting to break free. I let out a breath, knowing that the immediate crisis is over. For now.

Madison's attitude changes immediately, her expression moving from smug to flirtatious. "Toby!" she squeals in that earache-inducing high pitched voice. "You saved me! I knew you _loved_ me!"

I shudder at this. She still can't take a hint! I planned on just ignoring her as usual but... "I didn't do this for _you!"_ I snap, agitated. "I did it for Jessica!" As much as I would enjoy seeing Jessica taking Madison down a peg or two, I don't want her to get in trouble for it.

Before anything else can be said, the bell rings and the crowd disperses as everyone starts heading to their classes.

I remain where I am, still holding Jessica. She's still breathing too fast for my liking and I guess she must still be pretty angry. "So are you gonna tell me what that was all about then?" I ask, knowing that she more than likely won't _want_ to tell me. At least, not right now.

She looks up at me and, for the first time I notice two things. First, she's blushing. Her cheeks are dusted a rosy pink and, though it could just be due to anger, something tells me it's not. Second - my heartbeat. It's beating faster and faster to the point where I feel it pounding against my ribcage.

Oh...

It's the first time I've ever hugged her and it's felt this... _awkward_. There's a part of me that wants to let go immediately so I can try to sort out the mess in my brain. But then there's another part - the dominant part - that just wants to hold her, no matter how awkward it feels.

How can one kiss - one _accidental_ kiss - cause so much confusion?

We must be losing ourselves in the moment when a sharp voice yells, "Tripp! Herleins! Quit canoodling and get to class!"

I almost laugh as we spring apart. Who says _canoodling_ nowadays? Anyway I thought canoodling meant...wait, probably best if I _don't_ go there! Before we enter the classroom, I ask quietly, "Can we talk after?" She looks at me, an unreadable expression on her face before she nods and we walk in, taking our seats. Luckily our History teacher is pretty laidback and doesn't seem to notice that we're about five minutes late.

After the lesson ends, we head out of the classroom. We have a free period so we plan on meeting up with Nick and Lucas but first there are more pressing matters to attend to.

Jessica looks around, waiting for everyone else to leave, before grabbing my hand and darting into an empty classroom, pulling me along behind her. I manage to shut the door and watch as she starts pacing around in front of me.

"You, uh, you seemed pretty angry back there," I begin uncertainly. Now that I think about it, it couldn't be just Madison that had made her lose her temper. I mean, sure, the girl's annoying - I can attest to that - but normally Jessica can keep her cool around her. Something else is going on. "What were you fighting about?"

She lets out a heavy sigh as she sits down. "My dad," she admits after a while.

"Your dad?" This kind of threw me off a little. They'd been fighting over Jessica's dad? "How come?"

"You don't give up easily, do you?" she asks me and I shake my head cheerfully. "Well, you know how my dad works for Madison's dad's company? He, uh, he doesn't. At least not anymore."

I frown slightly as I ask, "He lost his job? Why? What happened?" I've always liked Jessica's dad and the thought of him going through such a hard time right now doesn't make me happy.

"Apparently he fell asleep at his desk," Jessica responds quietly. "One of the other workers noticed and told Madison's dad. He got sacked the same day."

I approach her, taking the seat next to her. "How long ago _was_ this?"

She closes her eyes before replying, "Two weeks ago."

Two weeks... Now it makes sense. I thought that her abnormally withdrawn behaviour was because she was mad at me for what happened. It turns out it had absolutely nothing to do with that and I feel a little stupid for thinking that it did.

"I've been trying to help find him a new job just to get Mom off his case but it's hard, you know, to find one at such short notice! And all she does is yell at him... she doesn't help!" She cuts herself off abruptly and whispers, "Sorry. I didn't mean to go off on one like that."

I need to find a way to cheer her up somehow, a way to make her day better but I can't think of anything that will help.

"Toby?" My head snaps up and I look at Jessica who seems nervous all of a sudden. "Why did you kiss me?"

There it is - that question. I didn't expect her to ask it but at the same time, it's almost as if I knew she would. She looks at me, waiting for me to respond. I try to gather my thoughts together. I can't lie to her and I have no intention of doing so.

"I, well, it was an accident, really," I admit truthfully. "I meant to kiss your cheek, I swear, but you moved." I look down at the floor and add, "I'm sorry... I mean you probably just want to forget it ever happened, right?"

"No..." Did I just hear that right? She _doesn't_ want to forget it happened? "It made me feel...well, I don't quite know how to describe it... warm, I guess? And remembering how it made me feel got me through these past couple of weeks. So you can forget about it if you want to but...I don't think I can."

Honestly I couldn't forget about it, even if I wanted to. "I'd have thought you'd have wanted a first kiss that was a bit more, you know, romantic?" I say awkwardly, rubbing the back of my head.

"I'm just glad it was with someone I care about and not with someone who's virtually a stranger to me," she tells me.

"Guess you have a point there!" I agree. I grin slightly before adding, "Tell you what? Next time I accidentally kiss you, I'll try to make it more romantic, okay?"

Why? Why did I just say that? I basically just told her I don't mind the idea of kissing her again! Luckily for me, she doesn't seem to notice. Besides it's hardly likely to happen again. Friends generally don't kiss each other.

Unable to help myself, I start laughing and find myself relieved when she joins in. At least it's taken her mind off Madison and her dad as well as everything else happening in her life. "So, uh, everything's okay between us, right?"

She looks at me, now smiling widely and nods before grabbing my hand and dragging me out of the classroom. "Come on, I've got to put my History book in my locker!" she exclaims.

"Nice to have you back, Jess!" I say to myself as we head down to the ground floor together.

As I push open the double doors, I hear Lucas yelling loudly, "Aaron Apple is coming to the school!"

I exchange a glance with Jessica who seems to be trying not to laugh as we approach him. "What's with the yelling?" she asks just as I notice Nick standing nearby, his nose in a game. Huh, relatable.

Lucas turns around to face us, brimming with excitement. "Aaron Apple's going to perform in the fundraiser's opening ceremony!" he tells us. The charity fundraiser - that's today? Wait...did he just say...

"Wow!" I say, impressed. "He's like the biggest teen star in the world! Even bigger than Murray Missouri!" How on earth did Lucas manage to book Aaron Apple?

Lucas, meanwhile, checks his phone as it had beeped while I was talking. "Who's it from?" Jessica asks.

He finishes reading the message and responds, "It's from his agent! It says that Aaron will take part in the opening ceremony!" He then adds, "But he wants a dressing room!"

I shrug. "That's easy enough to do!" I say. All we have to do is borrow one of the empty classrooms and make it look like a dressing room. The teachers probably won't mind.

" _And_ a basket of delicious apples - with the stems removed!" Lucas reads out.

" _Weird!"_ Jessica says. Who'd have thought that having your surname be a food would make you love said food?

"Not really!" Lucas protests. "After all, apples are his thing! And how hard is it to find apples?" That's a good point - apples are pretty easy to find. You can get them from the grocery, the school canteen, the orchard so it's not like we'll have any trouble with that demand.

All of a sudden, Nick exclaims, "Great game!" I don't think he's heard a word of what we've been saying. The three of us roll our eyes as he looks our way and asks, "Uh, what did I miss?"

* * *

On our lunch break, we head back home. Lucas insists that we watch the re-run of Aaron Apple's televised concert. I think he wants to prepare himself for when he meets him in person.

He seems nervous and excited at the prospect. I mean I had to reassure him _three times_ on the way home that we definitely have green apples at home and we could easily remove the stems and put them in a basket.

Nick complies and switches the channel over. Immediately the image on the screen shows a man in his late teens with blonde hair and green eyes. He wears a leather jacket with green apples sewn into the back, collar and on the hems of his sleeves. A guitar styled like a half-eaten green apple is strapped over his shoulder.

"Hey, buddy!" he says, holding up a green apple. "How do you like them apples?" He then takes a bite out of the apple. It sure does make me feel hungry...I wonder if there are any blackberries around.

"Gee," Lucas comments. "He sure does like apples!"

Suddenly the screen flashes black before being replaced by a male newsreader. "We interrupt this programme to bring you breaking news!" The image on-screen shows a field that _should_ be full of crops but, bizarrely, it's empty. "Scientists still can't explain the current food crisis! Foods that have been cooked or exposed to the sun are mysteriously disintegrating!" We watch in horror as we see shops closing down.

"But that only leaves raw fish and meat!" Nick exclaims. "And root vegetables like carrots and..." He and Jessica groan with disgust as he finishes with, "...turnips!"

"Ew!" Lucas and I say together, looking equally disgusted. Carrots are alright but turnips? Yuck.

Lucas stands up suddenly, much to our confusion, and starts running towards the kitchen. "Lucas?" Nick calls after him. Seconds later, we hear a startled cry.

"This is a disaster!" he says as we run in to join him, seeing the basket of now-disintegrated apples. Well, they're not going to be much use.

 _"Hey, guys!"_

As one, we all scream and Razzle - because who else would show up out of nowhere and freak us all out? - screams too.

"Razzle! Don't sneak up on us like that!" Jessica scolds while we glare at him. Seriously I don't need any more shocks today!

"Technically _you_ snuck up on me!" Razzle points out matter-of-factly.

"Trouble in Gorm?" Lucas asks.

Razzle looks worried as he replies, "Unfortunately, yes! The Rock Gormiti territory is under attack!"

"Well, in that case, there's no time to waste!" Nick says, leading the way over to the pantry. Once we're inside, we access the Primal Pad after sliding our hands over the panel until it glows green.

We run down the steps and into the Primal Pad, standing in front of the control panel while Razzle scurries onto it to give us the details.

"Wicked the Terrible has resurfaced!" he begins. The screen shows a Lava Gormiti with five large black spikes protruding from his head and a spiked tail. "And he's casting some _really_ nasty spells! He unleashed lava then destroyed the Rock Gormiti's food crops!" We see the Rock Gormiti attempting to save their crops from the lava flow but ultimately being forced to abandon their efforts. "But _that's_ not enough for him! He's now sent a lava flow towards the capital!" Now the screen shows the Rock Gormiti fearfully running away, heading to safety inside the Rock Fortress as the ground cracks open beneath their feet, revealing the lava below.

"Why's he doing this?" I ask. Yes, I know he's the bad guy but this seems like overkill...even for a Lava Gormiti!

"Wicked wants to show Magmion how strong he is!" Razzle answers. "Then maybe Magmion will make him his second-in-command!"

"So he's trying to _starve_ them!" Lucas says. "No wonder the food on Earth is being destroyed!"

"Let's get down there - and fast!" Nick exclaims.

We run to stand around the Gorm Gate before crying out, "Elementals!"

"Earth!" Nick begins.

"Water!" I yell.

"Forest!" Lucas shouts.

"Air!" Jessica finishes.

"Reveal to us the Keeper and give to them your chair!" we say together as the chair begins spinning around.

"And the Keeper is..." Razzle announces as the chair slows to a stop, revealing a light-blue icon with the Air symbol on the back, "...Air!"

Jessica immediately runs over to the control panel and gets into the chair. "Okay," she says when she's level with the control panel. "Let's do this fast! We've got a show to put on at school!"

We wait for the Gorm Gate to activate before leaping in, Razzle following. Eventually we land and see the ground nearby has cracks with lava flowing.

"Nice landing!" Jessica tells us. "According to the Travel Tome, you should be just outside the capital of the Rock Nation!"

I chuckle slightly. "Hot enough for ya?" I joke. Nick immediately turns his head towards me and glares. Oh yeah... "I know," I say sheepishly. "Bad time for a joke."

We look at the flowing lava in the cracks once more before Nick declares, "Time to transform! The Rock Gormiti are going to need us at full strength!"

"Let's get you powered up - and fast!" Jessica says. Seconds later, she adds, "You're good to glow!"

"Elemental powers flow," we chant together. "Gormiti - Lords of Nature, go!"

"Powers of the Sea!" I yell as I transform.

"Now...where's Wicked?" Nick says to no one in particular once we've all transformed. Suddenly we hear an all too familiar sound - the sound of evil laughter. Wicked is standing on a cliff overlooking the Rock Nation.

"You're going to pay for this!" Nick tells him angrily but the Lava Gormiti doesn't seem fazed at all.

"Oh, will I?" he says mockingly. "The Rock Nation is _doomed!_ Soon the few survivors will shudder when they hear the name Wicked the Terrible!" He then starts laughing again. Great, and I thought we had enough arrogant Lava Gormiti to deal with!

"I don't think reasoning with this guy is an option," Lucas points out quietly. We then see some Rock Gormiti running inside the fortress.

"Then let's change our focus for now!" Nick suggests, leading the way towards the fortress.

Once we're inside, we see an Earth Gormiti we've met before directing the others who are holding rocks. "Hurry, brothers!" he commands. "We must collect as much food as possible!" The Earth Gormiti soldiers put the rocks down, adding to the generous piles of rocks neatly placed around the building. Oh, yeah, they eat rocks. How could I have forgotten?

"I am honoured to see that the Lord of the Earth has joined our cause," he says, noticing us and walking over, clasping Nick's hand in his own.

"Wouldn't miss it!" Nick tells him.

"We must be quick!" the Earth Gormiti - I don't actually _know_ his name - says worriedly. "There's just a few days worth of food in the storehouse!"

"And if we fail, the food crisis on Earth will get a lot worse!" Lucas points out.

Suddenly we nearly fall over as the building begins to shake and small pieces of rock crumble down. Hearing Wicked's laughter grow louder, the four of us run to the doorway of the fortress to investigate and see that the lava flow is worsening. It even looks as if more cracks have formed since we arrived.

Jessica projects her image in front of us. "Wicked shouldn't be able to cast long-distance spells!" she informs us. "Somehow he's become a _lot_ stronger! _I'll_ try to find out what's behind it!"

"So if he's getting stronger..." Lucas begins nervously.

"We'd better stop him right..." Nick continues before the ground begins shaking violently, causing us all to cry out, " ... _now!"_

He leads the way, leaping down from the ledge, the rest of us following closely behind. We then charge forward only to be stopped by a massive crack with lava flowing through it. We'd never be able to jump across it - it's too large. But maybe there's another way...

"We are trapped!" the Earth Gormiti says. Wicked laughs, clearly thinking the same thing. But I've just had an idea.

"Correction - we _were_ trapped!" I point out before yelling, "Aqua Blast!" I blast the lava with a stream of water, creating a path for us. Once I'm done, I slump over slightly. That was _tough!_ It had taken a lot out of me.

"Thanks, Toby!" Nick says gratefully.

"Don't...mention it!" I tell him, still a little breathless. Nick leads the way as we run across the path I had made.

"Fools! They make this so easy!" I hear Wicked say before he chants something. Another crack forms in front of us and a wave of lava rushes down the ground towards us.

Razzle whimpers and hides behind a nearby rock. "Incoming!" I warn. Right before the lava hits, we jump up, the others jumping a couple of seconds before I do, and land on a ledge below Wicked.

"Wicked, I demand that you stop the siege of the Rock Gormiti!" Nick says angrily.

"Never!" Wicked responds stubbornly. I had a feeling he was gonna say that. "Magmion will soon see how I can cause more destruction than _Lavor_ or that Lavion _loser!_ What kind of names _are_ those, anyway? Wicked the Terrible - now _there's_ a name that tells you _who_ you're dealing with!"

Lightning flashes in the sky as more cracks form and the flow of lava increases. "I don't think we can negotiate with this guy..." I point out to the others.

"One...Two...Three...Seismic Smash!" Nick shouts suddenly as he and the Earth Gormiti slam their fists into the ground, causing it to crack open and shake. To my amusement, the shaking causes Wicked to lose his balance and fall over.

"I hope Magmion didn't see that!" he says, sitting up. "I've got a rep to protect!" He then yells at the Lava soldiers, "Now get up and destroy them!"

As the Lava soldiers leap down from the cliff, they start shooting fireballs at us but none of them actually hit us. Guess these guys aren't too good at aiming. "Like I always say, fight fire with... _water!"_ As I finish my sentence, I send out a jet of water which hits a couple of fireballs, causing a small cloud of steam to form.

A couple of Lava soldiers come running. One of them gets punched by the Earth Gormiti, crying out as he hits the ground. Another Lava soldier throws a flaming rock towards Nick. "Rock Storm!" he yells, shooting several sharp rocks out of his hands which break the larger rock apart.

"Jungle Attack!" Lucas shouts, grabbing yet another Lava soldier with his strong, brown vines and swinging him into his companion.

"Aqua Blast!" I cry out, hitting a lone Lava soldier with a blast of water. He flies backwards with a cry.

I look around to see Lucas struggling against another Lava soldier. While he's momentarily distracted, the Lava soldier takes the opportunity to strike him with his fist. "I've had enough of you!" he snaps angrily before taking a deep breath. "Sleep Spores!" He releases green spores from his mouth that surround the Lava soldier who yawns before collapsing to the ground, sound asleep.

Immediately the Lava soldiers who are still standing at this point cry out with fear and run away. "Come back here!" Wicked shouts after them angrily. "You never would have abandoned Lavion!"

"Ready for a final attack?" Nick asks.

"The timing is not right!" Wicked responds. "But soon I will have full power! They will all see that my relic is better than Orrore's weapon! And then the city will be buried for eternity and Magmion will know that it was I, Wicked the Terrible, who caused it!" After that mini monologue, he leaves and the flow of lava dies down. I get the feeling that he'll be back, though - the guy seems obsessed with proving that he's the best.

"Awesome job, guys!" Jessica praises us as she projects her image near us. "Great to see Wicked run off like that!"

"Thanks, Jess!" I say. Suddenly Razzle runs up to us, panting. Where did he disappear to?

"Guys!" he says frantically as he scurries up onto a rock in front of us. "You've got to get back to the Primal Pad! Your energy is at a critical level!"

"And we've got a celebrity to care of!" Lucas reminds us excitedly.

"Let's get you guys back here asap!" Jessica tells us. A few moments later, a portal forms above our heads and we rise up into it, and out of the Gorm Gate.

"So, uh, we have the dressing room right?" Lucas asks anxiously. I think he's going over some kind of mental checklist or something.

"Yep," I confirm. "I asked one of the teachers if we could borrow the classroom next to theirs. As soon as I mentioned it was for Aaron Apple, they were all over the idea!"

We head back up to the house when Lucas suddenly cries out, "Wait! What about the apples?"

Nick looks thoughtful. "Maybe we still have some apples that haven't disintegrated yet?" he suggests, looking at me.

I nod in agreement as we both start looking. We comb every inch of the kitchen and even the pantry but, between us, we only find three.

"That's hardly a basketful..." Lucas complains, lowering his head.

"It's better than having no apples at all, though," Jessica points out, trying to cheer him up.

"But how do we keep these ones from disintegrating like the others?" he worries.

Nick smiles. "I might have had an idea on that front!" he says before holding up a case filled with...ew, are those turnips? "We can store them in here with these!"

Once the apples have been safely packed inside the case and the lid fastened tightly, we leave the house and walk back to school. We head straight for the dressing room and place the case on the table before leaving the room, closing the door behind us.

When we get back to the entrance of the school, we see Aaron Apple himself walking down the corridor, leaving behind the starstruck receptionist. Crowds of students cheer from inside their classrooms as he walks past while we try to catch up.

"Ten bucks or no autographs!" he says suddenly, seeming to have finally noticed our presence.

"No, I- I'm Lucas!" Lucas introduces himself, definitely sounding nervous. "I organized this concert and...I think we're running a tad late for the rehearsal!"

"Don't I have a dressing room around here?" Aaron asks, seemingly ignoring everything Lucas just said.

"After the rehearsal, I'd be _happy_ to show you your..." Lucas begins.

"It's so cool you're helping us raise money for the environment!" Jessica interrupts him. I detect a hint of admiration in her voice and a familiar feeling - one I'd hoped to never experience again settles in my stomach. Don't tell me she has a crush on him, too! I mean how old is he again? Nineteen? Ick, _way_ too old!

"Yeah, whatever!" Aaron responds dismissively. "I like trees and stuff!" Finally we arrive at the ' _dressing room'._ "Hey, Lonny, I'm hungry!" he complains. "Where are my apples?"

Jessica and I exchange amused smiles as Lucas says, annoyed, "Not _Lonny_ \- it's _Lucas!"_

"We could only find a couple," I inform Aaron before he walks over to the case and opens it, looking at the contents inside.

" _Turnips!"_ he exclaims in disgust. "Get those things away from me!" Well, if even a high-maintenance celebrity hates them, turnips really must be disgusting.

Lucas walks over and takes one of the apples out of the case. "Maybe we could snack on the way to rehearsal?" he suggests, holding it up to Aaron who actually smiles for the first time as he takes it from him.

"How do you like them apples?" he asks, walking towards the door before taking a bite. He chews for a couple of seconds before letting out a cry and promptly spitting out the now disintegrated apple. "Is this some kind of joke?" he demands to know angrily. "Aaron Apple doesn't _like_ jokes!"

"No joke, Aaron," Lucas tells him as he walks over. He puts his arm around him before explaining, "It's just that there's a bit of a food crisis going on and apples are hard to find!"

"Two things, Lewis!" Aaron snaps, looking thoroughly irritated. "One - _never_ touch Aaron Apple!" As he says this, he bats Lucas' hand off his shoulder. "Especially his hair..." he turns and glares at Lucas, holding his hand protectively over his hair. " _Don't mess my hair!"_

I poke my own hair as I look at Nick and Jessica. They look back at me, bemused. I was definitely right when I mentally referred to this guy as high-maintenance. He's about as high-maintenance as you can get!

"Two - Aaron Apple doesn't do a gig without a basket of shiny, delicious _apples!"_ he yells, taking what looks like a contract out of his jacket pocket and practically shoving it in Lucas' face. "Not turnips, not apple sauce, not apple pie - _apples!"_ He turns and walks out of the room, the other students cheering loudly as he passes by.

Lucas lets out a weary sigh as Nick says sarcastically, "That went well!" Suddenly we hear something clanging and what sounds like a groan.

"What was that?" I ask as we walk further into the classroom, only to see Razzle coming out of the grate.

"Razzle!" Jessica exclaims. "We're in public!" Nick hastily shuts the door. We don't want anyone wandering in here, hoping to meet Aaron Apple, only to see a talking lizard instead!

"Well, duh!" he says. "But this is an emergency! Wicked is attacking the Rock Capital again!"

"Lucas, you stay here!" Jessica says. "You've got a fundraiser to run."

Lucas sighs again. "And apples to find!" he points out.

"Good luck on that!" she tells him. "If we need him, I'll send Razzle to bring you home!"

I open up the case and Razzle scurries up onto the table, peering inside. "Mmm, turnips!" he says before climbing inside. I shut the lid once he's inside, unable to believe he _actually_ likes turnips but at least we'll be able to get rid of them now!

After wishing Lucas luck, Nick, Jessica and I head back home and straight into the Primal Pad. I had carried the case with Razzle inside it and opened it as soon as we got in the house.

As soon as we get to the Primal Pad, we watch Wicked on the screen, laughing away. "We're not going to have much time to stop that monster!" Nick points out.

"Judo!" Jessica exclaims suddenly, turning the chair around to face us and winking. I try to imagine Wicked doing judo - yeah, I can't see that going too well.

"No offense but I don't think a martial arts battle is a good idea!" I tell her.

"What I _mean_ is that the best way to beat Wicked may be by using the principles of judo!" she explains.

"So we should turn our opponent's strength against him! Good idea!" Nick says but I notice something strange.

"Hey," I say, pointing at that screen. "Check out that thing in Wicked's hand!" I don't know what it is but it's glowing and if Wicked has it, it can't be a good thing.

"Weird," Jessica says, looking through the tome. "I'll see if I can get any info on it!"

Nick and I glance at the Gorm Gate, noticing that the orbs are glowing brightly once more. "Full power!" he exclaims. "We're outta here!" With that, we both run over to the Gorm Gate before jumping in.

"Powers of the Sea!" I yell as I transform once more.

We land just inside the entrance of the Earth Fortress and are greeted by the Earth Gormiti from earlier. Immediately noticeable is the rising lava - there's a lot more of it than there was when we were here before. "If the lava seals off the storehouse, everyone will starve!" I say before adding, "And who knows what'll happen on Earth?"

"Time for some judo!" Nick exclaims.

"Judo?" the Earth Gormiti questions, looking confused. I guess they don't have it here in Gorm.

"Just get us as many able-bodies as you can!" Nick tells him.

The Earth Gormiti lets out a sigh. "Some of us feel we should accept the Lava Gormiti's terms..." he says wearily.

We turn to face the crowd of Earth Gormiti as Nick speaks. "Hear me, my brothers of Earth!" he begins, taking a few steps forward. More Earth Gormiti step into the crowd, apparently eager to hear what he has to say. "If you give in to Wicked, he will demand more and more from you until you are his slaves! And you are not slaves - you are proud members of the Rock Nation and together we cannot be defeated!"

Nick's speech appears to do the trick as the crowd of Earth Gormiti begins cheering, their motivation and willingness to fight restored.

"Now we need to collect as many boulders as we can!" he commands.

"Follow me," the Earth Gormiti commands and the entire crowd follows him out of the fortress, Nick and I behind them. We watch as they pick up boulders and start hurling them into the lava. They continue to do this until a sizeable wall of boulders forms in front of the storehouse, protecting the precious food inside.

"Thanks to Wicked's lava flow..." I begin.

"...the food is protected. And no one will go hungry." Nick adds.

But the trouble isn't over yet.

"Soon you will have no need for food, for it's time to bury you all!" Wicked yells before holding up that weird thing and chanting the same thing he did earlier.

A massive wave of lava rushes towards the fortress, over the fields and boulders. "Today I am _truly_ Wicked!" he brags, letting out another evil laugh. We turn our heads and cry out, seeing the lava wave rapidly approaching us. The ground begins shaking violently.

"We have to protect the city!" Nick exclaims, transforming both his hands into drills before leaping down from the ledge and drilling into the ground in front of us. The Earth Gormiti smashes a large boulder with his fists as he and Nick work to make a blockade.

"The lava!" the Earth Gormiti cries in horror, seeing the lava continue to flow, seemingly unaffected by the rock blockade. Reacting quickly, I stretch out two tentacles - one for each of them - and pull them up to safety. Then I blast at the lava with a stream of water, causing a large cloud of steam to form. When it clears, we see that the water has caused the lava to harden.

"It's holding...for now." I say, looking down at my work and wishing I could have done more.

"It's just a temporary solution," Nick points out. "The city won't be safe until we defeat Wicked!"

"So what are we waiting for?" I ask enthusiastically.

Jessica projects her image in front of us suddenly. "Hey, guys. Want the good news or the bad news?" she says.

"We're a bit busy for games, Jess!" Nick says impatiently.

"Right! The bad news is that the food crisis is getting _worse!"_

"And what's the good news?" I ask curiously.

"The glowing thing that Wicked's been waving around is a relic from an ancient temple of evil!" Jessica responds. "It represents the ancient demon of famine and gives destructive power to whoever holds it and recites certain spells!"

"Any way to neutralise its power?" Nick questions.

" _That's_ the really good news!" Jessica says excitedly. "The relic loses its power when it's exposed to food!"

"Got it!" Nick says.

"Good luck, guys!" Jessica tells us before her image disappears.

"Thanks," Nick says as we run to the ledge's edge, observing Wicked laughing away on the cliff. "I have a feeling we're gonna need it!"

We watch him hold out the relic which glows before the ground cracks open. Several fire blasts hit the walls surrounding the fortress as the Earth Gormiti cry out in panic and horror, fleeing for their lives. Homes begin to crumble and fires begin to burn. A massive flaming boulder hits the steps leading up to the fortress, luckily avoiding hitting anyone.

" _Goal!"_ Wicked cheers, doing some kind of celebratory dance with his arms. By this point, we've had enough of just watching him destroy innocent beings' lives for no real reason.

"I'm gonna enjoy this battle!" Nick declares before we all begin charging forward. Two Lava soldiers start shooting fire blasts at us. The Earth Gormiti punches one, knocking him out, while Nick attempts to take out Wicked by firing sharp rocks out of his hand, yelling, "Rock Storm!"

Unfortunately the attack seems to largely miss as Wicked says mockingly, "And they call a weakling like _you_ the Lord of the Earth? Soon you will be the lord of _nothing!"_ He chants once again and sends a beam from the relic into the ground in front of us which cracks open.

"So sick of lava..." I complain as the orange, hot stuff flows out from the crack.

"And now...to finish off the Rock Gormiti!" Wicked yells before chanting once again. Another beam is fired, this time hitting the ground where the rock blockade is. At once, it sinks into the lava and the ground begins shaking, so much so that I actually feel a little sick.

"This spell is gonna be a doozy!" I say to no one in particular.

"Wicked... _Wickeder... **Wickeder!"**_ Wicked yells. We turn our heads to look behind us and cry out in alarm as we see _another_ lava wave approaching us.

"I had a feeling that was gonna happen!" I exclaim before Nick and I run to join the Earth Gormiti up on a rock.

"Goodbye, Rock Nation!" Wicked yells as lava surrounds us, trapping us and rising higher every second. We can't get across, not without getting burnt to death.

"We need boulders!" Nick shouts before transforming his hand into a giant, circular hammer. "Stone Hammer!" He then slams into the rock wall nearby and a couple of medium-sized boulders fall into the lava. "Follow me!" he commands before leaping onto the first boulder and then the next until he's safely on the other side, the Earth Gormiti and I following closely behind.

"No!" Wicked yells, clearly thinking he'd had us trapped for good.

"This time we're gonna finish you off, Wicked!" I tell him angrily.

His response is a dismissive, "Your boasts mean _nothing!"_ Uh, yeah, and _you_ haven't been bragging at all!

The Earth Gormiti lets out an angry growl, charging forward as a Lava soldier jumps down from the cliff, landing in front of him. One blow is all it takes to send the Lava Gormiti flying. "Sleep well!" he says mockingly.

Another Lava soldier jumps down and lands in front of Nick and I. "Let me guess - you're gonna shoot fire at me?" I ask sarcastically. Before he can react, I shoot a stream of water at him, knocking him back into the massive rock behind him and knocking him out. " _So_ predictable!" I exclaim.

"You've really got to teach these minions some new tricks!" Nick agrees as we run to join the Earth Gormiti who is standing before two Lava soldiers.

"Anything you wanna say to these guys?" I ask him.

"Just _this!"_ the Earth Gormiti responds, raising his fist and punching them both.

"They won't be getting up from that!" I say to Nick before we carry on running.

"I can always get new minions," Wicked speaks up, "but you will _never_ get another city!" The lava wave suddenly begins to approach the fortress at a more rapid speed than before. Within moments, it has completely surrounded the base and continues to rise as we run up as close as we can get to Wicked.

"Time to join your _brothers!"_ Wicked says, holding up the relic which glows as he begins to chant. Before he can finish, however, Nick shoots a couple of small, sharp rocks out of his hand and Wicked lets out an angry cry as the relic is knocked from his grip.

The Earth Gormiti leaps onto Wicked before he can recover the relic. "Get the relic!" I tell Nick, realizing that the Earth Gormiti was buying us some time. Nick runs forward and picks it up.

"We need to touch it to food!" he exclaims.

"There's nothing around here," I point out. Wait a moment... "except..."

"...the storehouse!" Nick finishes. We look at the entrance which is barely visible above the rising lava. "This has to work!" he says. I watch Nick balance the relic on his hand before shooting it on some small rocks into the storehouse.

A few moments later, there's a massive yellow glow that lasts for about ten seconds before fading. I put my hand on Nick's shoulder. "Nice shot!" I praise him.

We watch as the lava begins receding as quickly as it came, leaving behind several large cracks in the ground. "No! It can't be!" Wicked complains. "What will Magmion say?"

"He'll say that you failed!" Nick tells him.

"This is _not_ the end!" Wicked argues stubbornly.

"Actually this _is_ the end..." I point out, "...of _you!"_

With that, Wicked jumps down from the cliff and begins to make his escape but he isn't getting away so easily. The Earth Gormiti punches the cliff and the ground shakes. "I will have my revenge or my name isn't Wi-" Wicked never gets the chance to finish as the ledge he's standing on crumbles and he falls the rest of the way down. That's gonna hurt.

"Well, he won't be bugging anyone for a while!" Nick says, putting into words what I was just thinking.

We return back to the fortress and see a crowd of Earth Gormiti gathered outside. Work has already begun to repair the damage Wicked has done to the ground. The three of us walk down, smiling and waving at the cheering Gormiti. It sure does feel nice to be appreciated!

"We have enough food to last us until we can clear our fields and plant more crops!" the Earth Gormiti says happily, speaking to Nick. "You have proven to be a true Lord of the Earth. Come, let us celebrate!"

As we stop walking, Jessica projects her image near us. "Great job, guys!" she congratulates us. "But you'll have to skip the party! We've got to help Lucas! See if they've got any apples!"

Yeah, somehow I don't think a tribe of Earth Gormiti would grow apples! In fact, they might not even know what apples are!

"We have to leave," Nick tells the Earth Gormiti, "but we will return if you ever need us!"

A few moments later, a portal forms above our heads and we rise up into it, coming out into the Primal Pad once more.

"Come on!" Jessica says, leaping out of the chair almost immediately. "We need to get some apples pronto!"

We head up to the kitchen and I grab the empty basket from the table. When I notice the others giving me questioning looks, I say, "What? Do you wanna try carrying a bunch of apples in your hands without dropping them and leaving them all bruised? Besides didn't he say he wanted a _basketful_ \- as in put the apples in a basket?"

They shrug and we make our way to the front door. Just as we leave the house, Jessica exclaims suddenly, "Wait! I've forgotten something!" before hurrying back inside. Moments later, she returns, holding...an _umbrella?_

I look up at the sky. Aside from a couple of small, white clouds here and there, it's completely clear - nothing to suggest that we're due any bad weather. "Uh, Jess, no offense or anything but _why_ do you have an umbrella?" I ask before glancing at Nick, hoping that he might know why but even _he_ looks a little perplexed.

"You know why!" she responds, which just confuses me even more. If I knew why she was carrying an umbrella, I wouldn't have asked in the first place! Suddenly it hits me.

"Ohhh..." Nick and I say in dawning comprehension just as we arrive at the local grocery. The owner greets us all cheerily, happy that he's back in business once again.

It doesn't take us too long to find some apples and, luckily for us, the stems have already been removed. We pay for them and place them carefully into the basket before hurrying back to school.

As we walk back into the dressing room, we notice that Aaron is just about ready to leave. "How do you like _these_ apples?" I say, messing up his catchphrase slightly as I toss one to him.

"And no stem!" he exclaims, his face lighting up immediately as he looks at the apple in his hand. "Oh, thank you! Thank you! _Now_ I can go on stage!"

"We...also brought you an umbrella!" Jessica tells him.

"An umbrella?" Aaron says, confused, after taking a bite out of the apple. "Aaron Apple doesn't _need_ an umbrella!"

After he walks out of the room, Jessica says to Lucas incredulously, "You didn't explain the opening ceremony always starts with a _prank?"_

"He was too busy yelling at me to listen," Lucas defends himself before grinning widely. "Besides...he doesn't _like_ apple sauce!"

We leave the classroom/dressing room and head to the gym where the stage and equipment is set up. Standing in the doorway, we watch the students sitting on the steps, cheering as Aaron waves to them.

"Thank you! Thank you!" he says. "My name is Aaron Apple!" He strums his guitar randomly as he continues, "And I'm gonna do whatever it takes to make this charity fundraiser a success! And I mean anyth-"

He is cut off by apple sauce pouring onto his head while the students laugh and cheer. We exchange glances as Aaron stands, completely covered in apple sauce, looking shocked.

When school ends, we return back home and start watching the Aaron Apple special again (once more, Lucas' idea).

"Well, folks, how do you like _these_ apples?" he asks, holding his trademark apple up.

Jessica giggles slightly. " _Sauced!"_ she responds to his rhetorical question and the four of us start laughing, remembering the prank from earlier on.

All I can think is, he'll need a good shower to get all of that apple sauce out of his _awesome_ hair!

* * *

 _AN: And we're done with another chapter! That took a lot less time than I expected. I think I like my current schedule. Sure, I'll have to catch up on sleep as I work on the oneshots but at least you guys will be getting something to read out of it. Rest assured that if it gets too much for me to keep up, though, I will find an alternate solution! Hope you enjoyed reading!_


	22. Chapter 21 - The Fog

_AN: Hello, guys, and welcome back to ROTLON! I think this one's gonna be quite short but we'll see how it goes! Enjoy!_

* * *

Nick, Lucas and I are sitting in the stands outside with the rest of the class, watching the soccer game. Well, I say _watching_ \- it's been really foggy all day so far and it's kinda hard to see anything. In fact, I'm not even sure if we're even winning at the moment. _That's_ how hard it is to keep track of the game.

The crowd around us begins cheering in response to our mascot's encouragements. I've never really gotten whether our mascot is supposed to be a pirate, a Viking or a mixture of the two.

"Jessica's doing a pretty good job out there," Nick comments. "Considering how last minute it was that she had to be a replacement!"

"Yeah, it's a real shame Gina got sick but at least the mascot costume is in good hands!" Lucas agrees.

Normally Gina is the mascot of the soccer team but she'd gotten tonsillitis about a fortnight or so and Jessica, being her best friend, had naturally offered to take over her mascot duties until she was fully recovered from - I presume - having them taken out.

"I'm just glad I'm not out there playing!" I chime in. "I mean I like a good game of soccer as much as the next person but I'd also like to be able to see where I'm going!" It's honestly kind of surprising to me that nobody's scored an own goal yet.

Through the thick fog, I just about manage to make out Coach Johnson, a man with greying hair, gleefully fist pump the air. "Woo-hoo!" he exclaims. "We won again! I can't believe it! Woo-hoo!" Yeah, see what I mean by how hard it is to keep track because of the fog? I didn't even realize the game was over!

As everyone begins making their way down the steps, we do the same and stop at the door that leads back into the school.

Eventually Jessica walks over, carrying the rubbery head of the mascot costume under her arm while still wearing the rest of the costume. "Uh, why do you still have the mascot costume?" Lucas asks, confused. "I thought that Gina was gonna go back to being the mascot now that she's better!"

"That's what I thought, too!" Jessica responds with a sigh as the four of us head back into the school. "But Coach Johnson apparently wants me to be the mascot... _permanently!"_ She stares at the head of the costume and lets out a groan of dismay. We walk out of the front entrance and down the street as Jessica continues to lament. "It's not fair to Gina that they're forcing _me_ to be the mascot!"

"Well, she'd better get used to it!" Nick points out. "They've got another game later tonight!"

"Don't remind me!" she complains. "I can't wait until this tournament is over!"

"They should cancel the games because of this fog!" I say. "How can the players even see the ball?"

"It looks like a healthy, moist fog!" Lucas says thoughtfully. "But there's something _odd_ about it!"

As we pass a store with TVs in the front window, I hear the familiar jingle that means that the news channel is about to report breaking news so I stop to have a look, Lucas doing the same thing.

"Everyone in Venture Falls is walking on cloud nine!" the male newsreader says via voiceover as the screen shows people trying to move around in the thick fog. It even seems to be affecting transport as a ship blares its horn as it moves along the road instead of the ocean. "Fog is just a cloud that touches the surface of the earth... _and_ you're walking through it!" He chuckles at his own joke.

"He failed to mention that fog - or ground clouds - is made up of millions of tiny droplets of water!" Nick says, apparently forgetting that school is over for today.

 _"Hey!"_

I scream, hearing the others do the same thing. "Razzle!" we exclaim. It's bad enough when he does his sneaking up on us thing in ordinary weather but, with this thick fog...

"Millions of tiny droplets?" he exclaims after scurrying up onto Nick's head. "I'd hate to be the guy who has to count them all!"

"Since you're here, I guess this strange fog is something to do with the Gorm!" Lucas says.

"It's cupboard time, ladies and gentlemen!" is Razzle's response before he climbs down and tucks himself inside Nick's pocket as we head home as quickly as we can, trying not to outright run since we're struggling to make out what's in front of us a lot of the time.

Eventually we make it - somehow without incident - and immediately make our way down to the Primal Pad. Once we're gathered in front of the control panel, Razzle scampers up onto it to give us our briefing.

On the screen, we see lightning flashing and fog swirling around the forest. "There's a fog in the Gorm, too!" he begins. " But it's _far_ more dangerous! It's making its way across the land and any Gormiti that goes in doesn't come out!"

"We can't let that happen to any more Gormiti!" Lucas exclaims.

"So who's behind it?" I question.

"I have no idea!" Razzle responds. "But I do know that if it isn't stopped, the entire world - the Gorm _and_ here - could be permanently covered in fog!"

"Yikes! Imagine a world covered in fog!" Jessica says. "We would all have to walk around like _this_ to find each other!" As she speaks, she starts walking around with her hands held out in front of her while the three of us laugh.

Once we've recovered from the amusement, we run to stand around the Gorm Gate and cry out, "Elementals!"

"Air!" Jessica begins.

"Water!" I yell.

"Forest!" Lucas calls.

"Earth!" Nick finishes.

"Reveal to us the Keeper and give to them your chair!" we say together.

"And the Keeper is..." Razzle announces as the rapidly spinning chair slows to a stop, revealing a dark-blue icon with the Water symbol on the back, "...Water!" He points at me and says, "It's you, kid!"

"Let's get this party started!" I exclaim cheerfully before walking up to the chair and sitting down. I wave my hands over the crystals to open the Gorm Gate and look over briefly to see the others jumping in. "And...touchdown!" I open up the Travel Tome and announce, "Okay, guys, Travel Tome says you should be in a fog-free zone in the Forest Nation!"

"We _are,"_ Nick responds. "But it won't be fog-free for long!" I look at the screen and see that fog is already clouding the area. Suddenly I notice a familiar figure walking forward, holding two rocks in his hands. He stops in front of the fog and plants his feet in a steady position

"Hey, it's Cannon Trunk!" Jessica exclaims. "What's he doing?"

"Vile cloud!" the Forest Gormiti shouts, addressing the...fog? I don't think fog is capable of hearing. "This charade has gone far enough! Reveal yourself!" He places one of the rocks in his hollowed out head and fires it directly into the fog. Nothing seems to happen so he places the other rock in and takes a couple of steps forward before firing it in as well.

"It's like he sees somebody in there," Lucas says. Oh, well, _that_ makes more sense! I thought it was a bit odd that he was trying to talk to the fog! "We need to help!"

They run out from behind the rock as Cannon Trunk yells, "Begone from these woods!" Suddenly he lets out a cry as the fog seems to swirl around him and I can no longer see him on the screen. The others reach the place where he'd been standing and look at each other, confused, when they can't see him.

Lucas looks determined as he says, "We need to go into that fog to find out what happened to Cannon Trunk!"

"You can't go in there!" Razzle wails. "You'll get lost like everyone else!"

Nick looks thoughtful for a moment. "Unless..." he says. "Lucas, do you still have that length of rope you used to carry around with you?"

Lucas digs around in his pockets and pulls out a reasonably long piece of rope. "Never leave home without it!" he exclaims. "Why?"

"Because we can use it to make sure we don't get lost in that fog," Nick explains as he begins wrapping the rope Lucas had passed to him around himself before feeding the length back to Lucas so that he and Jessica could secure themselves too.

Razzle takes the end of the rope once Jessica's done and wraps it around a nearby tree before tying a knot.

"The ropes are tied," Nick says to the others. "Now if we get lost in there, we can _easily_ get out!"

"Hold on, Cannon Trunk!" Lucas calls out. "We're coming for you!" After this, Nick begins leading the way into the fog.

Jessica hesitates for a moment. "It...can't be _that_ bad in there...right?" she asks before following the others inside the fog.

Immediately I notice how much harder it is to see where they are. It seems that the further inside the fog they walk, the more difficult it is for me to keep track of them.

I move the crystals around to attempt to conjure up a projection but it takes at least two attempts just to get it to work. "Guys," I say, once I'm sure they can actually see me. "It's hard to get a clear signal in there! Any sign of Cannon Trunk?"

"All I see is fog, fog, fog!" Jessica responds, looking around.

"It's so vast!" Nick exclaims. "I can't even see where we're going _or_ where we came in!"

Suddenly there is a strange moaning sound. "That's gotta be Cannon Trunk!" Lucas says as they walk in the direction of the moans.

Sure enough, he's right. Cannon Trunk is lying motionless on the ground as the others approach him. "He's unharmed," Lucas reports, stepping up to the unconscious Gormiti to take a closer look. "But his energy level is completely depleted!"

"We need to get him out of here!" Nick says frantically.

"Who could have done this?" I wonder aloud.

"Uh...probably _that_ guy!" Jessica answers, sounding worried as she points in front of her. I just about manage to make out a hulking figure standing in the direction she's pointing but the fog makes it hard to tell who it is.

"Where?" Nick asks, looking around at where she's pointing.

"There!" Jessica points out, pointing at the exact same place.

 _"Where?"_ Nick asks again, fiddling with his glasses. "This fog is so thick and disorienting!" His eyes widen as he finally sees the figure. "Oh, right...there!"

Lucas springs to his feet. "Whoever you are, stay back or we'll be forced to fight!" he warns. The figure merely laughs as he begins stalking forward menacingly.

"Okay, Toby, we're gonna need a little power over here!" Jessica tells me, sounding a little nervous.

I look over my shoulder at the orbs as I move the crystals around. When they start rising up off their pedestals, I know that they're fully charged. "I'm ready for ya!" I exclaim. "It's glow time!"

"Elemental powers flow, Gormiti - Lords of Nature, go!" they chant together before transforming.

The figure laughs before firing fiery shards at them, forcing them to duck.

"Don't say I didn't warn ya!" Jessica shouts angrily. "Fighting Feathers launch!" She shoots sharp feathers out of her hand but the figure laughs as they seem to miss him completely. "Come on!" she complains. "There's no way I missed!"

"Okay..." Nick says slowly. "That doesn't inspire confidence!"

Out of nowhere, Jessica and Lucas cry out as fog begins swirling around them rapidly. I notice that their orbs seem to be running out of power all of a sudden, too.

"Wait, where are we?" Lucas asks, confused. "It feels like I'm drowning in fog!"

"And there's no lifeguard on duty!" Jessica adds as they both struggle.

"Let them go!" Nick shouts, punching the ground in front of him, sending cracks towards the figure who, once again, seems to disappear. Luckily the fog swirling around Jessica and Lucas seems to disappear as well.

"Okay," Lucas pants. "This could be tougher than we thought!" The figure reappears behind them and fires the fiery shards at them again, forcing them to dive to the ground.

I look around and see the orbs take a major dip in energy. But while Nick still has quite a bit of power left, Jessica and Lucas are just about out of power, probably because of that swirling fog attack earlier.

"A _lot_ tougher!" Jessica exclaims.

"That was some powerful attack!" Lucas agrees, sounding exhausted while I manage to project my image near them.

"Jessica, Lucas! Your power levels are super low!" I tell them. "You need to get out of there right now!" I let out a cry as the figure fires its fiery shards in my direction. Good thing I'm safe here in the Primal Pad or those shards could have really done some damage!

"Come on, guys!" Nick says to the others as he stands up. "We need to vacate the situation!"

"Where? How?" Lucas asks, also standing up.

"Over there!" Jessica says, going in one direction before changing her mind and going the other way instead. "Wait, no, _here's_ the line! This way!"

As they run for the exit, following the rope, the mysterious figure fires lots of fiery shards in their direction, probably angered that they can find their way out.

Eventually I see Lucas and Jessica walking out of the fog. Razzle goes over to greet them but I frown when I notice Nick isn't with them. They were all tied together. Could something have happened in there?

"Where's Nick?" he asks them.

Lucas looks confused as he responds, "What do you mean? He's right..." As he and Jessica turn around to look behind them, they finally realize that Nick _isn't_ there like they thought. "Nick!" they both exclaim.

"Check the rope!" I suggest, projecting my image near them. Lucas begins pulling on the rope and I know immediately something's wrong. Nick's the heaviest of all of us when he's transformed so if the rope were still attached, Lucas would be finding it difficult to pull.

As the frayed end of the rope comes into view, confirming my fears, Lucas says worriedly, "Oh no!"

Razzle hides his face with a groan while Jessica guesses, "One of the attacks must have severed the rope!"

"We have to go back and get him!" Lucas says immediately

"Not a good idea!" I point out. "You don't have any energy! You won't be able to _do_ anything!"

"He's right," Razzle agrees. "And how are you ever going to find him in there?"

"I'm trying to get a location fix on Nick!" I tell them. "But the fog is really playing havoc with the readings!"

"We can't leave Nick behind!" Lucas insists.

"I'd agree with you, normally," I tell him while I resume using the crystals and tomes to try and track Nick down. "But I'm gonna have to bring you guys back anyway!"

Pausing only to open up the Gorm Gate to get the others back here, I immediately get back to work. Flipping through pages of the tome and occasionally moving a crystal around but my efforts have yet to bear fruit. The screen remains as cloudy as ever and I have yet to even catch a glimpse of Nick.

"This fog is making it _impossible_ to pinpoint Nick's location!" I complain as I continue to work.

"I don't want to be the bearer of more bad news but it looks like that fog is spreading!" Razzle says suddenly.

"You sure you don't want some help, Toby?" Lucas asks, sounding worried. "You've been going at it pretty heavy for a while now!"

"I'm not stopping until I find Nick!" I insist, almost to the point of snapping. Though I appreciate the offer, a part of me feels that it's my responsibility and mine alone to find Nick. Not just because I'm the Keeper but because he's my brother. "Look, this could take a while," I add, still flipping through the tome. "You guys need to head back to school and cover for us."

"I guess you're right," Jessica says before adding unenthusiastically, "Anyway I have a large and uncomfortable mascot costume to wear in a few minutes!"

"As soon as you find something, call us!" Lucas tells me. Without looking around, I nod my head, still moving the crystals around.

The Primal Pad falls silent, the only sound being the pages of the tome as I look through it over and over again.

At one point, I almost think I've found something. "Hey, Razzle, what do you think?" I ask, looking around, expecting to see him perched on the back of the chair. "Oh, you're not here..." He must have gone with Lucas and Jessica. It turns out to be a false lead anyway. Great.

"Come on, Nick!" I mutter, rubbing my forehead. "Where _are_ you?" If only my teachers could see how hard I'm working right now. They'd probably all pass out with shock!

Through some stroke of luck, I see an image of Nick appear on the screen. "Nick!" I exclaim, wanting to pinch myself just to make sure I'm not dreaming. "It's me! Can you hear me? Are you okay?"

He doesn't respond. I'm not even sure he's conscious, though his eyes are open. Maybe he had his energy drained like Cannon Trunk. "No audio communication," I say to myself. "But it's a start!"

I glance down at the tome once again, hoping it can help me out. I'm just glad I've seen Nick and he appears to be unharmed. If I hadn't been able to find him, I'd never have forgiven myself. He may annoy me sometimes but he's my little brother and I gotta look out for him, even if most of the time it seems like it's the other way around!

I move crystals around like crazy with one hand while reading the tome, occasionally looking up at the screen as well. The sound of footsteps about ten or fifteen minutes later tells me that Jessica, Lucas and Razzle have come back. They seem to be having some sort of conversation but I ignore it. Eventually, once more, I see Nick's image appear on the screen. "Nick!" I call out again. "It's me! Can you hear me?"

"Toby!" he exclaims as I just about manage to project my image near him.

"Nick, you can hear me! Are you okay?" I ask frantically.

"I'm not hurt!" he assures me. "But I don't know how much longer I can last in here!"

"I've got a lock on your location but the fog is preventing me from gating you back to the Primal Pad!" I tell him.

Suddenly Lavor fires one of his fiery shards which hits the tree Nick is hiding behind. Having been discovered, Nick starts running, Lavor continuing to shoot the shards after him. "We don't have much time! Lavor is behind this mess! He's using the Shroud Portal to control the fog!"

The connection begins to go dodgy once again and I lose sight of him. "Nick!" I exclaim but there's no answer. "I had him but I lost him!" I say. "But I'll find him again!"

While I work to try and trace Nick's location, I catch bits and pieces of the conversaton the others are having. Apparently Jessica and Gina had fallen out over the mascot costume but, according to Razzle, it could also have had something to do with Lucas.

Of course he doesn't get it but Jessica does, lamenting that she feels bad for yelling at her. I can kind of sympathise with Gina. She's had a crush on Lucas for about four years or more and he hasn't noticed. It's not a nice feeling liking someone who doesn't seem to know you like them, even if you're obvious about it. No wonder she got so desperate - I mean I don't think I'd throw my friend under the bus, figuratively speaking, just to get attention from somebody I liked but I can understand why she did it.

But I've got bigger things to think about right now. I cannot stop myself from smiling as I manage to lock on to Nick's location - it was much easier this time around, too. "I've found Nick's location!" I exclaim, interrupting their conversation.

"Let's roll!" Lucas says with determination.

"Guys," Razzle pipes up. "I think the fog is a weapon! When it swirls around you, it drains you of your power!"

"That's why Lavor's attacks seem more powerful in the fog!" Jessica says.

"We're gonna need a way to counter that fog and energy draining attack or we'll never get out of there!" Lucas points out.

" _I_ have an idea!" Jessica tells him. A Jessica plan, huh?

After they've jumped through the Gorm Gate and landed just outside the fog, I move the crystals around so they can transform again.

"Hey, Toby, can you send the mascot costume through?" Jessica asks.

I blink slightly. "The...mascot costume?" Why on Earth does she want the mascot costume _now_ of all times?

A little impatiently, she responds, "Yes, you know, the rubbery suit in the Primal Pad? The one that can't decide whether it's a pirate or a Viking? _That_ mascot costume?"

"Okay, okay," I say, holding my hands up. "I'll get it to you in a second but why do you need it?"

"You'll see," she tells me before adding, "Thanks!"

I get up out of the chair and walk over to the mascot costume. "Alright," I mutter as I pick it up. "I don't know what Jessica's planning to do with you but it'd better be something good. I could do with a laugh right about now."

Reaching the Gorm Gate, I throw the mascot costume through before returning to the chair. "Okay, Toby, you've now gone from talking to an inanimate object to talking to yourself. You really must be going crazy!" I say to myself.

On the screen, I notice Jessica and Lucas walking into the fog, carrying the mascot costume. They stop and assemble it before walking away, much to my confusion.

"We only have one chance to do this!" Lucas says worriedly. "If we fail, we're _not_ getting out!"

"Yeah," Jessica adds. "No pressure!"

They then split up. Lucas heads in the direction of Nick's location while Jessica stays relatively close to where the mascot costume is. "Lavor! Lavor! Come out and pla-ay!" she calls out in a sing-song voice.

"Hey, Lavor! What kind of plan is this if you can't even see who you have to defeat? I feel like I'm in some _big_ game of hide and seek!" she taunts. "Lavor! Lavor! This is probably one of the _worst_ plans I've ever see-"

Lavor shows up suddenly, letting out an angry yell. I have to laugh as I notice he's approaching the mascot costume rather than Jessica. So that's why she needed it! "My plan is brilliant!" he shouts. "You will regret insulting Lavor the Powerful! Now that I've drained your power, you will bow down and admit my plan cannot be stopped!"

He fires the fiery shards once again. "Ha! Where is your trash-talking now?" he asks before approaching and actually seeing the mascot costume, which is unsurprisingly on fire, considering it's made out of rubber. "This is unusual..." he mutters.

"It's called a decoy!" Jessica says coldly, stepping up on the other side of the mascot costume. She fires a white sphere of energy at Lavor who doesn't have time to react and gets thrown away. "We just needed to distract you until we could find our friend!"

Lucas and Nick walk into view. I feel relieved to see he's okay. "I guess that's why your parents didn't call you Lavor the Intelligent!" he quips. Yep, he's definitely alright!"

I look at the screen and see that the Earth is almost completely covered in fog. "Guys, you have to destroy the Shroud Portal!" I tell them, looking down at the tome again while I project my image near them. "It's the only way you can get out of there!"

"That's a great plan!" Nick agrees. "Unfortunately we need to locate Lavor first!"

"Leave _that_ to me!" Jessica says before running forward and shooting a funnel of wind out of her hands. It blows away the fog surrounding Lavor, causing him to become visible.

"I'll be honest - I didn't see that one coming!" he admits.

"But you're definitely going to _feel_ this one!" Nick yells before punching him, causing Lavor to lose his grip on the Shroud Portal.

"The Shroud Portal!" he says in protest as Lucas uses his creeper to pick it up.

"Sorry, dude, but you just jinxed it!" he tells Lavor delightedly. "Toby, how do I destroy this thing?"

I flick through the tome. Come on, there has to be something in here! Something? Anything? But all the book says is what the Shroud Portal does, not how to destroy it. "I'm not sure!" I tell him. "There's nothing in here!"

"I have an idea!" Lucas says, placing the object on the ground before stomping on it with his foot. When he moves his foot away, the object starts glowing a fiery orange.

"You didn't just do that!" Lavor says fearfully. "Tell me you didn't just do that!"

I watch the screen as the fog starts to get sucked back into the Shroud Portal which seems to grow slightly bigger. "Cool! It's working!" Lucas exclaims. "The fog is getting sucked back into the portal!"

Unfortunately it seems to be a little too powerful! "That can't be good for business!" I point out as the Shroud Portal starts sucking in _everything_ , not just the fog. Once more, I find myself relieved that I'm safely in the Primal Pad after even my projection is sucked in. I swear I can hear the sound of laughter that sounds awfully familiar.

"Hang on to something!" Lucas calls out to the others, staggering to try and find something sturdy enough to do just that.

"The Shroud Portal is now a powerful vacuum!" Nick yells, clinging to a tree.

"Really?" Jessica asks sarcastically, holding on to another tree with all her might. "Did you figure that one out all by yourself?"

Lavor, meanwhile, has clung onto a rock. "Why did you have to ruin my plans?" he complains.

"Hey, that's our job!" Jessica tells him. "Don't take it personally!"

"It's personal!" Lavor responds angrily. "And you know how Lavor the Powerful gets revenge? He destroys anyone who-" Foolishly he lets go of the rock and stands up, only to be hit by what looks like a tree trunk and ends up getting sucked into the Shroud Portal as well.

As it sucks in more and more objects, it seems to become more powerful. Nick suddenly lets go of the tree he was holding and manages to walk over to a large boulder. And when I say large, I mean it!

With little to no effort, he raises the equivalent of what must be the weight of a small car above his head before tossing it. The boulder lands on top of the Shroud Portal and at once, the suction stops and everything is calm once again.

"Problem solved!" Lucas says as they approach the boulder.

"It's over!" Nick adds happily. "We did it!"

"Was there ever any doubt?" Jessica asks rhetorically and Nick laughs.

"Looks like Lavor's now trapped in the Region of Darkness!" Lucas says.

"And now he'll need a new way to get back!" Nick points out.

"And the fog has disappeared all around the world!" I tell them, looking at the screen that shows the Earth no longer obscured by fog. "We're all clear!"

Lucas returns to where they'd left Cannon Trunk and finds him awake. "It appears that everything is back to normal!" the Forest Gormiti announces as Lucas helps him up.

"Whoa, are you alright?" Lucas asks him.

"Er...except the mascot costume!" Jessica says awkwardly, looking down at the charred remains of the rubbery suit. It's still relatively intact but the burns and singe marks are clearly visible.

"Speaking of mascot costumes, doesn't the team have another match in about thirty minutes?" I ask. The groan I get from Jessica is answer enough. I move the crystals around and a portal forms above their heads and they rise up out of the Gorm Gate.

"Well, may as well get this over with!" Jessica says reluctantly, giving the mascot costume a look before running up the stairs with it in her arms. We exchange glances before following her.

* * *

The whistle for half time has just blown. Now that the fog has gone, it's much easier to keep track of the game. At the moment, we're winning two-nil.

"Hey, look!" Nick says. Lucas and I follow his finger and notice Jessica walking over to Gina who is standing at the edge of the pitch, carrying the mascot costume head under her arm. They have a short conversation, during which Jessica abruptly plonks the head on Gina before they hug.

"At least they've patched things up now!" I say before frowning. "I don't remember those two ever fighting before!"

"Me neither!" Nick agrees. "I guess there's a first time for everything!"

Lucas doesn't say anything. I think he's _still_ trying to work out what the whole situation is. Poor guy...

To our surprise, we see Jessica practically skipping towards us, a wide grin on her face. She isn't wearing the mascot costume anymore which probably explains it.

"So you and Gina are okay now?" I ask as she sits down between Nick and I.

"Yep!" she says cheerfully. "From now on, Gina'll be the one cheering our team to victory while I stay in the stands! Just how it should be!"

"I don't suppose it really matters who's wearing the costume as long as they want the team to win!" Nick says thoughtfully.

Jessica grins mischievously. "In that case, next time she needs a replacement, I'll tell her you volunteered!" she jokes.

"Eh-heh, no thanks!" Nick laughs nervously. "I don't think I'd fit in the costume!"

"Anyway," she adds. "It's a relief that I don't have to wear that costume anymore! It smells funny and it totally _ruins_ my hair!"

I glance at her momentarily. "Your hair looks fine to me," I say absent-mindedly as the second half begins.

* * *

The game ends and we've won again, beating the other team with four goals to zero.

"That was some quality cheering!" Coach Johnson praises, approaching who he must think is Jessica. "The team really fed off that energy! High five for the best mascot ever!"

"Thanks, Coach!" Gina says as she removes the rubber head of the costume. Coach Johnson's eyes widen in surprise before he high-fives her anyway.

"Go, Gina! You rule!" Jessica cheers loudly.

"I don't get it!" Lucas exclaims suddenly. "She just wanted a hug?"

I resist the urge to roll my eyes as I look at him. "You need to give up!" I inform him. "Boys will _never_ understand girls!"

"Well, at least _Lucas_ won't!"Nick jokes and the three of us start laughing. Jessica nearly falls over sideways and grabs my arm to steady myself. I almost jump, expecting the usual tingling but instead my skin heats up where she touches, almost like it's burning but not quite. It's a very odd sensation, not unpleasant or anything, just odd.

"I don't think I've laughed so much in my life!" she gasps out. She looks my way and says in a low voice, "There are exceptions, though, right?"

Knowing what she's talking about, I nod my head and manage to say, "Yeah." I'm kind of surprised I can say anything at all right now.

We make our way down the stands and start heading towards the school, Lucas attempting to ask us why we were laughing which just makes us laugh harder.

Just before we reach the school building, Gina joins us. Jessica immediately greets her but the dark-haired girl pulls her and me aside, giving us a look. One I'm not too comfortable with. Nick and Lucas carry on walking, Nick attempting to fend off Lucas' questions.

"So the rumour's true, then?" she asks casually.

"What rumour?" Jessica asks in return. I'm glad she can speak because I think I've forgotten how.

"That you guys are dating, of course." My mind seems to go numb. This isn't happening. This _can't_ be happening. I hear her add how she always knew it would happen. Then she starts rambling about how someone had seen us hugging, someone else mentioned that we hug all the time and then another someone else had concluded that we must be dating, since we spend all our time together. At least I think that's what she's saying.

"We're _not_ dating!" Jessica exclaims abruptly, laughing nervously before shaking me slightly. "Right?"

I nod my head silently, not trusting myself to speak in case I say something stupid, like admit that she might not be just a friend to me anymore.

"Well, with how close you two are, you can't blame everyone for thinking you're an item!" Gina points out. "I mean you guys are literally one step away from getting married!"

Fighting to stop my face from burning, I finally find my voice. "Come on," I say. "Not _everyone_ thinks we're dating!"

Gina nods her head. "We're just friends!" we both exclaim frantically. She looks at us both, staring us down, as though waiting for one or both of us to crack.

"Alright, I believe you," she says after a while. "Just don't be too surprised if this isn't the last time it's brought up, okay?" We start walking into the school and she stops again. "You know, it's a shame you guys aren't dating!" she adds as an afterthought, sounding almost disappointed. "You guys would make a great couple!"

"Gina!" Jessica yells, chasing after her as she runs down the corridor, leaving me behind. I cannot stop my face from burning this time as I slowly walk, trying to make sense of everything.

I haven't even come to terms with what it is I feel yet but it seems as though everybody else knows - or rather they _think_ they know.

It's at times like these that I wish I was as dense as Lucas because thinking about all this is quite frankly making my head hurt.

* * *

 _AN: Yay, I finished a chapter! Had to take some paracetamol before I finished the last part (have a headache which isn't fun). Sorry if it seems a little short or anything but hope you enjoyed it nonetheless! See you next time!_


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